The 2024 DP World Tour season is over, and while the Race To Dubai could only be won by a lone golfer (with Rory McIlroy triumphing for a sixth time), 10 more players have collected a potentially lucrative consolation prize - a 2025 PGA Tour card.
Confirmed ahead of the 2023 season, the '10 Cards Initiative' was a byproduct of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour's strategic alliance which presented the leading decade of European-based players with the chance to earn playing rights in America for the following campaign.
Anyone who is not already exempt and finishes among the leading golfers on the Race To Dubai rankings can pick one up, helping them play for significantly higher prize purses against many of the world's very best.
Matthieu Pavon and Robert MacIntyre were among the first beneficiaries of the scheme, with both going on to secure maiden PGA Tour titles in their full debut rookie campaign.
Pavon triumphed at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines while MacIntyre picked up two victories - the first arriving at the Canadian Open and the second being the co-sanctioned Scottish Open.
And now that the 2024 DP World Tour Championship is over, we now know who will be among the new wave of European-based golfers trying to crack America.
Despite falling well short of McIlroy in the Race To Dubai, Rasmus Hojgaard finished second to pick up the first PGA Tour card on offer to DP World Tour golfers this season.
The Dane - who will finally join his twin brother, Nicolai - responded to narrowly and painfully missing out by one spot last season in all but the most emphatic style possible, winning the Irish Open to set up a sparkling run of form which culminated in challenges at both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship.
Thriston Lawrence led the way in the 10 Cards Initiative for much of the season following five runner-up finishes and five more top-10 results, but he ended up third in the Race To Dubai and one place behind Hojgaard in the queue for PGA Tour exemption status.
The South African was excellent all year, even briefly leading The Open during round four, but failed to pick up a victory - the only piece missing from an otherwise exemplary campaign.
Right up among Ryder Cup stars and Major winners in the final Race To Dubai rankings was Englishman, Paul Waring. Significantly helped by his brilliant Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship victory, sending him from 48th to fifth, Waring was consistently excellent all year and deservedly ended the season as the third man to collect a 2025 PGA Tour card.
Only four of the top-10 in the Race To Dubai were not already PGA Tour members, with the next player earning status on the US-based circuit in 2025 being 10th-placed Jesper Svensson.
The Swede set himself up for a switch in tours after claiming victory at the Singapore Classic earlier this season, while he also finished as runner-up at three other tournaments.
The remaining six promoted golfers ultimately finished within eight spaces of each other between 11th and 18th. Niklas Norgaard's British Masters triumph went a long way to helping the monster-hitting Dane vary his schedule next season, and it continues his ascension towards the very top of the game.
Perhaps the most remarkable face set for a PGA Tour adventure is Matteo Manassero after the Italian ended 12th in the Race To Dubai. Last season, Manassero was playing on the Challenge Tour. This year, he won the Jonsson Workwear Open. Next term, he will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele.
Certainly not unlucky in 13th (in the Race To Dubai, at least) is Thorbjorn Olesen. The third of three Danish players to achieve PGA Tour status in 2025, Olesen made an excellent start to the season on the DP World Tour - winning the Ras Al Khaimah Championship - before trying to earn enough points to retain his PGA Tour status in the first half of the campaign.
Olesen wasn't able to do that, but came back over to Europe and was consistently high up on leaderboards, allowing him to have another go in the US next year.
There was a good deal of movement around the final few places in the 10 Cards Initiative throughout the closing tournament, and Antoine Rozner was the biggest beneficiary, shooting up eight places to end the Race To Dubai in 15th.
The Frenchman was winless in 2024 but went fourth, T6th, T3rd in his final trio of appearances to sneak in as the eighth man to collect a PGA Tour card.
February's Qatar Masters winner and consistently strong golfer, Rikuya Hoshino just about did enough this term after finishing ninth in the 10 Cards Initiative and 16th in the Race To Dubai. Although his lone victory was right at the start of the year, the Japanese player went 10 made cuts in a row most recently, last failing to play the weekend at The Open in July.
And the final man to make the list of promoted players was Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin. Another golfer to achieve PGA Tour status without winning on the DP World Tour, McKibbin's strength this term led in his ability to still finish high up, regardless.
The highlight being a runner-up result at the Italian Open, McKibbin managed nine top-10 finishes in total and held on to the final PGA Tour card by just 10 Race To Dubai points.
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From 19th down to 24th in the Race To Dubai rankings, each player will wonder about what might have been - none more so than England's Jordan Smith, who finished just 10.43 points below McKibbin.
Smith scored two runner-up finishes and three further top-10s in 2024 but was in the worst possible position when the music stopped. Yet, after two close calls in consecutive campaigns, his fans will hope it is third time lucky in 2025.
Another name likely to be incredibly frustrated about his end to the season is Sebastian Soderberg. Hoping to have joined compatriots, Ludvig Aberg and Jesper Svensson in America, Soderberg dropped five places in the Race To Dubai during the final event and ultimately missed out by two spots.
This past year was a rough one for Soderberg on the course, with the 34-year-old missing out on a victory in extraordinary circumstances when LPGA Tour pro Linn Grant overcame an eight-shot deficit to beat him at the Scandinavian Mixed back in June. Otherwise, he had three runner-ups, two third-places, and two further top-10s without a win.
Among the other names who were so close to enjoying starts on the PGA Tour in 2025 were Guido Migliozzi, Romain Langasque, Julien Guerrier, and Laurie Canter.
Three of the four names actually tasted victory in 2024 - guaranteeing them status in Europe for the next couple of years at least - with only Langasque not lifting a trophy this term.
Migliozzi won the KLM Open, Guerrier won a record-equalling playoff at the Andalucia Masters, while Canter triumphed at the European Open months after playing as a reserve in the LIV Golf League.
However, none ended high enough in the Race To Dubai and will need to lick their wounds before fighting again when the new season starts next week at the BMW Australian PGA Championship.
