American's Last-Gasp Eagle Hole-Out Headlines Dramatic Finale As DP World Tour Card Fates Decided At Genesis Championship

The DP World Tour's regular season is now over and the fates of multiple players have been decided.

There was so much emotion bouncing around at the Genesis Championship this week, the 42nd of 44 events this term, and those feelings were often heightened throughout Sunday as every birdie and bogey seemed to have a knock-on effect on someone's career prospects.

Not only were a small group of pros trying to win the tournament in the short-term, but many others at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club were fighting for strong results in order to save their long-term future.

In the end, South Korea's Junghwan Lee won the Genesis Championship by three strokes and consequently clinched a DP World Tour card as well as a spot in the first round of the Playoffs next week.

Elsewhere, a handful of players produced minor miracles to achieve their own dreams, whether it be retaining their playing privileges or sneaking back into the leading batch of candidates for a PGA Tour card.

But with so many different storylines at play, it might have been difficult to follow exactly who needed what and how they fared.

Below is a round-up of those players who kept or lost their DP World Tour cards in South Korea as well as exactly how it happened.

WHICH PLAYERS LOST THEIR DP WORLD TOUR CARDS?

There were 10 players who missed out on securing their DP World Tour cards by 50 points or fewer after the dust settled at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.

Three of those pros - namely Antoine Rozner, Clement Sordet and Tapio Pulkkanen - were not in the field for one reason or another so therefore had no chance of progressing their Race To Dubai tally.

However, for the other seven, it was a case of missing a golden opportunity with T30th securing 40.68 RTD points and a top-10 garnering a season-defining 106.35 points.

South Africa's Dylan Frittelli was the closest to saving his full-time card, though, missing out by less than three whole points. He ended the season on 479.26 points, with Sweden's Niklas Lemke on 482.17 above the dotted line.

Frittelli ended the Genesis Championship in T65th after shooting rounds of 73 and 74 at the weekend.

In 112th on the Race To Dubai before the week began, the 35-year-old was effectively two strokes away from safety in the end.

Meanwhile, Wiesberger missed the cut when T54th or better would have been enough for the Austrian and Yannik Paul also failed to play four rounds when a T50th result or better would have saved his skin.

Among the other notable names to finish below the 115 cut-off included Callum Tarren, Matthew Southgate, Gavin Green, Ross Fisher, and Shubhankar Sharma.

WHICH PLAYERS KEPT THEIR DP WORLD TOUR CARDS?

As we've already mentioned, Lemke was the final man inside the top-115 on the Race To Dubai. But there were also a handful of huge movers this week who rocketed up from the depths of despair to enjoy an unforgettable end to their season.

Aside from Genesis Championship winner, Lee - who rose a mammoth 244 places up to 63rd after only two counting events - Jordan Gumberg was perhaps the most delighted man on the property on Sunday.

The American was 127th before play began this week and was at four-under (T21st) heading down the par-5 18th on Sunday. With his third shot from the fairway, Gumberg landed it softly short of the flag and watched it trickle in for eagle.

It would have been a great shot under any other circumstances, but the eagle pushed him up into the top-10 and effectively sealed his card for next season. Gumberg finished in a tie for seventh this week and bagged the points he needed to stay on the European circuit by ending the year 110th.

Among the group in T7th at the Genesis Championship was Thomas Detry, and the Belgian had this result to thank for keeping hold of his DP World Tour card, too.

Detry, who has mainly featured on the PGA Tour this term, moved up from 129th to 113th via his top-10 and will be able to mix and match events once more after playing only 11 times in Europe in 2025.

The final man to make a notable jump in the rankings was Japan's Yuto Katsuragawa.

The 2024 ISPS Handa Championship winner would still have been able to rely on his past champions status anyway, but a T4th at the Genesis Championship bounced him up 40 places - from 131st to 91st in the Race To Dubai - and ensured another full year of starts.

Inside the group of players who narrowly finished the right side of the 115-man cut-off included Sami Valimaki, Shane Lowry, Sebastian Soderberg and David Micheluzzi.

Whether anyone can follow in the footsteps of England's Marco Penge remains to be seen, with the monster-driving pro having only just retained his status 12 months ago before going on to win three times on the DP World Tour in 2025.

As a result, he stands an excellent chance of potentially winning the Race To Dubai and is almost guaranteed a PGA Tour card in 2026 as well.

RACE TO DUBAI RANKINGS