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Rory McIlroy ventures into new territory by playing in India this week as he returns to action for the first time since the prestigious team event.

As the Northern Irishman expands his golfing horizons, the European golf circuit enters the closing stage of this year's Race to Dubai. The world-class golfer is in the leading spot to secure the season-long title for the fourth consecutive year and seventh occasion in total.

This includes only three additional tournaments following the Indian event; the following week's Genesis Championship in South Korea - which wraps up the 'Back Nine' phase of the tour calendar - and then the final two tournaments in the Middle East.

These high-stakes playoff tournaments in the UAE capital and Dubai are reserved for the leading seventy and then leading fifty in the standings.

However for the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this tournament lineup in the subcontinent, there is reduced stress than one would expect.

Sitting outside the top 70, at first glance it would seem both require high finishes from their visit to the Delhi Golf Club to extend their seasons. But, actually, they are already assured of their places in the UAE and Dubai.

This results from a little publicised but practical loophole whereby members of Europe's Ryder Cup team are also considered qualified for next month's season finale events.

Fleetwood, who won the PGA Tour's play-offs with his stirring victory at August's Tour Championship in Georgia, sits ninety-fourth in the continental circuit's season-long table. Lowry, who sank the winning stroke that secured the team trophy, is 155th.

Additional squad members who can potentially benefit are Aberg (seventy-second) and Straka (147th).

This might question the fairness of a play-off system, which by nature is intended to bring intense competitive jeopardy, but this scenario also illustrates realities faced by the headquartered DP World Tour.

They are reliant on big backers such as DP World, who are also the title sponsors of this week's event in the Asian nation. They need the biggest stars at their biggest events to justify the financial commitment, which amounts to millions of dollars.

Fleetwood has enjoyed one of his best seasons, highlighted by his maiden victory on US territory at the Atlanta course just under two months ago.

Fleetwood represents one of European golf's superstars and, frankly, it would be unthinkable to stage the 2025 season finale without him.

Practical considerations overrides competitive integrity, even though the world number five - a Dubai resident - has reserved his strongest showings for events that do not qualify on his home tour.

Fleetwood has so far played only four European tournaments and been unable to place in the leading twenty at any of them; the Middle Eastern event, UK tournament, BMW PGA Championship or Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Major championships also contribute on the Race to Dubai and his sixteenth-place finish at the Open was his only top 20 in the major events. But on the US tour he enjoyed seven top-five finishes.

The European star was also the team's highest contributor at the New York course last month. It seems absurd for him not to be participating with the tour's leading stars at the end of the season.

While in the past the PGA and European tours were fierce competitors they are now inextricably linked thanks to the cooperative partnership that underpins European tour prize funds.

While Marco Penge, recent champion of the Spanish Open, has moved into McIlroy's wing mirrors as his nearest challenger at the summit of the Race to Dubai, much of the attention for the rest of the season will have an American bias.

The narrative will be driven by the competition for ten spots on the American circuit for those who do not currently possess playing rights in the United States. Penge, with three European victories, is guaranteed of what is generally considered as advancement to the US circuit.

The Lancashire golfer, who also secured invitations to the Augusta National and Open with his Madrid victory, is not in the tournament lineup but will launch a final push to try to overtake McIlroy at the peak of the rankings.

And the English competitor, the man Penge defeated in the Madrid play-off, is one of four other Britons in the thick of the competition for a 2026 PGA card.

Northern golfer John Parry and the West Country pair of Jordan Smith and Canter also presently hold spots that would yield a valuable opportunity for the coming season.

Some observers view this scenario as proof that the DP World Tour is now nothing more than a feeder for the larger circuit on the American continent.

However the DP World Tour argue it is a vital mechanism that underpins their schedule, a necessary and attractive feature that optimizes competitive chances for its members.

Certainly this is the season period where the practical aspects and compromises of elite golf competition seem at their clearest display.