The DP World Tour Playoffs are about to begin and Rory McIlroy is just a couple of strong performances away from lifting a seventh Race To Dubai title - an achievement which would see him surpass the late, great Seve Ballesteros and leave the Northern Irishman behind only Colin Montgomerie (eight wins) on the all-time list.
Nevertheless, many players - such as McIlroy - have still competed in a handful of non-Major tournaments to maintain their playing rights and fuel potential ambitions to win the Harry Vardon trophy.
Be that as it may, McIlroy leads the Race To Dubai rankings heading into the Playoffs despite having only appeared in nine counting events overall - four of which were Major championships.
On the contrary, Marco Penge is second in the standings despite playing in 24 tournaments overall and winning three of them.
Marco Penge has won three DP World Tour titles in 2025
The frustration for some fans, and possibly players, is that Penge has enjoyed a wonderful campaign - almost exclusively in Europe - but may not win the DP World Tour's Order of Merit.
Opponents to the potential issue would say that the higher number of points available in Majors, one of which McIlroy won, rightfully outweighs the figures on offer in a regular DP World Tour event
But, given that this is a talking point at all, it begs the question - 'is the DP World Tour's Race To Dubai a flawed system?' Four Golf Monthly writers had their say - let us know your view in the comment box below.
I wouldn't say the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai system is fundamentally flawed, but I understand why some people take umbrage with it. Marco Penge has competed in 24 DP World Tour events this season and won on three occasions, but he trails Rory McIlroy, who's only taken part in five non-Major DPWT events.
That said, he won The Masters. Should that be expunged from the record because some members of the DPWT don't quality to play in the Majors? Of course not. And it's not as if he's been terrible in those five events – he reigned supreme at the Irish Open, finished second in Scotland and tied for fourth at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Outside of the Majors and the high-profile events, prize pools on the DP World Tour are relatively small – that's just the reality of the situation. We shouldn't start giving inflated points to winners of events with weak fields.
Rory McIlroy with the 2025 Irish Open trophy
In an ideal world, would the tour's stars play double digit non-Major events? Of course, but the Europe circuit is very much operating with its hands behind its back. The PGA Tour has effectively cordoned off seven months of the year (February-August) and the DP World Tour doesn't have the financial might to compete.
The DP World Tour raising the requisite number of events in order to attain membership would be too risky a move, even though you have to be a member to be eligible for the Ryder Cup. However, they could potentially consider increasing the bar from four to eight in Ryder Cup years.
Still, the players have all the power and it's not a move Guy Kinnings can make in the current climate (as far as I see it).The current system isn't perfect, but it's not egregious.
This is a storyline that can apply to almost every season I can remember on the DP World Tour, where the big names occupy the top spots while only playing in 8-10 events...but is it a problem? I really don’t think so.
The system is very fair and there is no forced drama where points reset or players begin the finale at 10-under-par. The Race to Dubai is decided by whichever DP World Tour member plays the best and Rory McIlroy sitting top despite only playing in nine events so far this year just illustrates what a fantastic season he has had.
Marco Penge is in second from 24 tournaments and has clearly been the best player who has solely played on the DP World Tour this season, but that doesn’t mean he should be the tour’s champion.
Marco Penge with the Open de Espana trophy
DP World Tour members only need to play four tournaments outside of the Majors and that is what some of the big names do. The rules could potentially change to five or six but any more could risk losing star players who are based in the US and play the majority of their golf on the PGA Tour.
If Rory McIlroy goes and wins his seventh Race to Dubai from just 11 starts you simply have to take off your hat and applaud what a great achievement that would be.
It's difficult to give a concrete answer but, if you were to look at the Race to Dubai Rankings then yes, you would argue that the system is flawed, given that Penge has played over double the events of McIlroy, won three of them, and is still 500 points behind him.
The issue is that the DP World Tour is limited on what they can and can't do. For the majority of the time, their tournaments are overshadowed by those on the PGA Tour and, from February to August, the big names will tend to play in the States and not in the Middle East, Europe and Asia etc.
If you award big points in those events it could help but, with the much lower prize money, it's unlikely that will do anything. One solution could be to reduce the amount of points given for Majors, seeing as how not everyone from the DP World Tour can qualify and play in them. However, that does create the argument of 'just play better.'
Looking at it, McIlroy, Hatton, MacIntyre and Noren have played single digit DP World Tour events in 2025, but they have won some big tournaments, so the flawed argument can work both ways.
What's more, if you take McIlroy out of the equation, as well as Penge (but he has won three times), it is incredibly close in terms of points between Hatton in third and Haotong Li in 10th.
In all honesty, I never really see the point in the Playoffs. The emphasis is always tailored towards a good run at the end of play, making the start of it a bit meaningless. If the calendar's points distribution was more consistently spread, perhaps that could help create a fairer system?
Is the DP World Tour's Race To Dubai system "flawed?" For the most part, no. But right at the crucial juncture, I guess you could say it is.
Race To Dubai ranking points are more heavily weighted towards the Majors, just as the same is true for the Official World Golf Ranking. It's because the fields are stronger, which makes sense.
What I don't think is right about the whole set-up is having such an enormous number of points on offer in the Playoffs. As Matt rightly pointed out, it makes much of the season far less meaningful if it's possible to play the minimum four events, do OK in them, and then win the last two to claim the big trophy.
Plus, the fields are largely the same, plus a few star attractions. That can lead to unbalanced rankings where players only have to time their run rather than rewarding consistency across the whole term.
I understand pumping large amounts of money in to attract the star names, but why is the DP World Tour giving them the chance to win the season's rankings when they don't play most of the season in Europe?
In terms of realistic alterations, all the European Tour officials would have to do is reduce the number of points on offer in the Playoffs slightly and everything else could stay pretty much the same. That way, the big names would probably still remain a part of the tour and whoever was the most consistently strong performer throughout the year would be fairly rewarded with the trophy. Easy.
Is the DP World Tour's Race To Dubai system flawed? Let us know in the comments.
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