Final Friday afternoon, because the shadows grew lengthy in County Kildare and Shane Lowry acquired up-and-down for birdie on No. 18 in entrance of an adoring residence crowd, we acquired a glimpse on the DP World Tour’s full potential.

All eyes had been on the Irish Open. Properly, “all” is likely to be a stretch. However there was no PGA Tour occasion going up towards it. No LIV occasion, both. And afternoon golf in Eire means morning golf in america, golf’s largest market, establishing the Irish Open as an ideal appetizer to varsity soccer Saturday {and professional} soccer Sunday. The golf was good on these mornings, too, with Lowry in rivalry, Ulsterman Rory McIlroy taking part in within the last group and rising Swedish expertise Vincent Norrman outlasting each of ’em on Sunday.

Lowry referred to as it his “fifth main” and “one of many best occasions on the planet”. Countryman Padraig Harrington referred to as the native curiosity within the occasion “huge” and “good.” McIlroy was impressed, although not stunned, by the large turnout.

“Regardless of the place we play The Irish Open, the crowds all the time come out.”

In different phrases, it was a banner week for the Irish Open — and for the DP World Tour. And so they plan to have one other banner week at this week’s BMW PGA Championship, the place not simply McIlroy and Lowry but in addition their 10 European Ryder Cup teammates can be in attendance. That’s a crowd headlined by latest FedEx Cup champ Viktor Hovland, World No. 3 Jon Rahm and Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton — sufficient star energy to outshine the competitors on the PGA Tour’s Fortinet Championship, which kicks off its personal fall marketing campaign this weekend.

In brief, it looks like that is Europe’s likelihood to have a second, and properly, that’s precisely the purpose. During the last 18 months the DP World Tour — a mainstay of {the golfing} world for the final half-century — has been too usually misplaced within the shuffle between LIV and the PGA Tour, dismissed amongst the drama, relegated to a distant third within the collective consciousness of the informal golf fan. Nowhere was that higher exemplified than in June, when the DP World Tour pushed again its schedule launch because of the sudden settlement between the Saudi PIF, the PGA Tour and (you’re forgiven if you happen to forgot they had been included, too) the DP World Tour.

The circuit did finally launch its new schedule, although. In mid-August — and within the midst of the FedEx Cup Playoffs — they dropped the outlook for 2024 together with what can greatest be described as a viewer’s information to assist make sense of it. When your schedule contains 13 months, 5 continents, 24 nations and 44 tournaments, you want some assist with studying comprehension. Look, I’ve zero affiliation with the DP World Tour (or the PGA Tour, or some other tour). And I might say that as a fan of European golf it has been troublesome to make sense of the the place, why and when of the DP World’s schedule lately. However this newest model? It’s remarkably coherent. It makes quite a lot of sense. It reads just like the skeleton of one thing nice. And it nonetheless could have one deadly flaw. Let’s dive in.

What’s DP World, anyway?

Gosh, that’s a terrific query. The DP World Tour is the artist previously often known as the European Tour, and whereas the DP World Tour displays the title of its new sponsor it additionally displays its new ethos: worldwide. Whereas the second half of the season nonetheless seems an terrible lot like your dad and mom’ European Tour, the remainder of the schedule displays that “World” a part of the entire deal. So it’s a logical sponsor; add two letters and also you get the DP World Tour.

As for the sponsor itself? DP World is a self-described “world chief in world provide chain options.” The DP stands for “Dubai Ports.” It’s a Dubai-based logistics firm that handles an absolute boatload (scientific time period) of containers daily. Their title sponsorship? That got here because of a reported promise of $400 million over the subsequent decade, starting in Nov. 2021.

“With a year-round calendar, and a really world footprint, golf is a sport that displays the character of our enterprise,” reads DP World’s web site. No kidding.

How will the Saudi PIF be concerned?

That may be a terrific query that we are going to, for the needs of this text, largely ignore till we all know extra in regards to the decision of talks between all events. Is there a world the place we see extra DP World occasions with Saudi sponsors like nationwide oil firm Aramco, a significant System 1 sponsor? For positive. However we’re not there but, so let’s first take the schedule as at present constructed.

What does the brand new schedule appear to be?

Once more, glad you requested. The majority of the schedule is split into 5 “swings” earlier than its fall finale. These swings present some geographic coherence to the entire operation. In addition they have particular person payouts; the winner of every swing will get $200,000 from a $1 million “swing” prize pool and qualifies for the “Again 9” — however we’ll get to that. Let’s first check out the cornerstones of the brand new schedule.

1. Opening Swing

Australia and South Africa host the primary six occasions of the 2024 season. The actual catch? This swing of the 2024 schedule concludes earlier than 2024 even begins. That is basically a bunch of co-sanctioned occasions, with two (the Australian PGA Championship and Australian Open) in Aussie and the opposite 4 in Africa. The AfrAsia Financial institution Mauritius Open wraps up on Dec. 17, 2023, comfortably earlier than the start of the…

2. Worldwide Swing

On this case “worldwide” refers to a stretch of golf performed within the Center East and into Africa to start the 2024 calendar season (Jan. 11-Mar. 10). Which means the Dubai Invitational. It means the Hero Dubai Desert Traditional the next week, the primary of 5 Rolex Collection occasions with $9 million purses. Then it means a 3rd consecutive occasion within the United Arab Emirates earlier than heading to Bahrain, Kenya and twice extra to South Africa. A flight from the UAE to South Africa isn’t precisely a puddle-jumper, however we’re staying inside a pair time zones for a pair months. At the least till we get to…

3. Asian Swing

In 2023 the DP World Tour made its most important foray but into Asia, and it’s clear from the 2024 schedule that was hardly a one-off. The Asian Swing (Mar. 21-Might 19) contains stops in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China and, in fact, Augusta, Ga. for the Masters and Louisville Ky. for the PGA Championship. Okay, in order that a part of the schedule remains to be just a little awkward for high professionals. However we’re getting there. Similar to the DP World Tour will get again to its roots within the…

4. European Swing

These subsequent occasions could fall below the class of “European Tour occasions that you simply’ve heard of however haven’t essentially watched very a lot of.” That’s as a result of we’re working from Might 23-July 7 right here, which is primetime so that you can be A. watching the PGA Tour or B. having fun with summertime not directly that doesn’t contain golf on tv. We’re guessing it’s most likely A.

Anyway, this stretch is the Tour’s first journey to continental Europe for the summer time; it goes from Belgium to Germany to Sweden to the Netherlands to Italy to Germany, every of these oriented round Pinehurst’s U.S. Open in mid-June. Which brings us to the ultimate main of the yr, which takes place within the midst of the…

5. Closing Swing

The Closing Swing has its highlights, starting with a visit to the co-sanctioned PGA Tour/DP World’s Genesis Scottish Open and working via the Open Championship after which the Olympics in France. From there, the common season winds down with occasions on the Czech Masters and the Danish Golf Championship. Which leads us to…

What are the playoffs?

What comes subsequent could possibly be considered the “Finest Swing.” They’re calling it the “Again 9,” which works superb, too. However the post-Tour Championship rundown right here is nothing in need of spectacular. Say you’re McIlroy or Lowry and also you desire a quick break after the FedEx Cup Playoffs to relaxation and watch faculty soccer. You are able to do that! Skip the British Masters and even perhaps the dreamy European Masters at alpine vacation spot resort Crans-sur-Sierre GC. However don’t miss the Horizon Irish Open, which is held in 2024 at Royal County Down, one of many greatest golf programs on the planet. Then there’s the Rolex Collection on the BMW PGA at Wentworth and a last sequence of fall occasions that features stops in Madrid, on the Previous Course at St. Andrews and Le Golf Nationwide.

As soon as once more the year-end Race to Dubai will conclude, logically, in Dubai, however this time there can be a two-week “playoffs” to assist decide the champion.

That first week they’ll contact down at Yas Hyperlinks in Abu Dhabi for the penultimate occasion of the season. Then they’ll return to Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship, an occasion hosted at Jumeirah Golf Estates’ North Course.

On the conclusion of the season the main ten gamers will divvy up a $6 million bonus pool whereas the highest ten within the Race to Dubai Rankings who aren’t already exempt will earn PGA Tour playing cards for the 2025 season.

Three massive questions stay:

1. Who’s going to play?

Final week we had the standard thrilling Irish suspects, from Lowry and McIlroy to Padraig Harrington (and to Seamus Energy, too, earlier than he withdrew resulting from damage). European golf followers are like golf followers anyplace; they’ll flock to see stars. This week at Wentworth will convey loads of these, too. And the Ryder Cup brings its personal star energy, too, however that occurs in Europe solely each 4 years.

The query for the remainder of the occasions is simply what number of PGA Tour stars — assume Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood — will present as much as play commonly. The schedule might be terrific whereas nonetheless counting on just a few guys to actually pop. The PGA Tour’s reimagined fall schedule emerged partially from high professionals’ needs for an offseason. How a lot will they actually fill that offseason with DP World Tour golf?

There’s additionally the difficulty of the DP Drain. The PGA Tour has cemented itself as the highest circuit on the planet and the DP World now feeds on to it — the highest 10 on the finish of the season now earn their PGA Tour playing cards, which incentivizes them to play much less in Europe and all over the world. I’ve talked to a couple gamers who fear that is an personal objective on the DPWT’s half. When you let your high expertise go elsewhere annually, who’s left?

2. Can the DP World Tour personal the autumn?

Maybe they don’t really want to “personal” the autumn however a minimum of carve out their place inside it. However there’s a purpose the PGA Tour ceded the autumn to soccer. Is the attract of late-summer Irish hyperlinks and familiarity with St. Andrews and the big-money finale in Dubai sufficient to attract golf followers’ eyeballs, at the same time as their very own golf seasons come to a detailed?

I hope so.

It does seem to be there’s sufficient differentiation between the DP World’s new fall season and the PGA Tour’s new fall season for each to exist in parallel. And the brand new playoff construction means there’s a clearer conclusion to the DP World’s yr, too. LIV stays an X-factor right here, too, because it wraps up its personal season within the fall. However LIV can also be an X-factor in our last query, which is…

3. Can the DP World Tour personal the world?

When LIV’s occasion in Adelaide went off swimmingly with locals earlier this yr it appeared as if the startup circuit had tapped into one thing particular by bringing star energy to an underserved neighborhood of golf followers. However LIV’s 14-event schedule implies that its skill to go all over the place is restricted; this yr’s schedule spanned simply seven nations and held eight occasions in america.

There are offshoots of LIV that additionally convey some star energy across the globe; the affiliated Worldwide Collection introduced stars to surprising locations (like Brooks Koepka in Oman), and the highest seven finishers on the Worldwide Collection England had been all LIV professionals. However the DP World Tour is now uniquely located to globe-trot from continent to continent, touching ’em all save for South America and Antarctica.

Anyone know an sponsor on the South Pole?

Dylan Dethier

Golf.com Editor

Dylan Dethier is a senior author for GOLF Journal/GOLF.com. The Williamstown, Mass. native joined GOLF in 2017 after two years scuffling on the mini-tours. Dethier is a graduate of Williams Faculty, the place he majored in English, and he’s the creator of 18 in America, which particulars the yr he spent as an 18-year-old residing from his automobile and taking part in a spherical of golf in each state.