Is This The Best Crop Of DP World Tour Talent To Join The PGA Tour Yet?
We look at the pick of the 10 players to earn PGA Tour cards from the DP World Tour and why it looks the strongest group yet
There have been some solo success stories from the recent addition of 10 PGA Tour cards on offer on the DP World Tour - but as a bunch the 2025/26 squad could just be the best yet.
It's tough to make the switch from the DP World Tour to the PGA Tour, but with some young guns, a charismatic player with more experience and a resurgent wily veteran, there's a great mix among the 10 players to earn cards.
Laurie Canter decided to return to LIV Golf instead of taking up a PGA Tour card, with Dan Brown getting his spot but there's still plenty of talent in the group heading across the Atlantic.
The likes of Robert MacIntyre, Ryan Fox and Matthieu Pavon have ended up winning on the PGA Tour after securing cards this way, but this year's group could be the best since the 10 cards initiative was introduced.
The star man
The highlight of the group has to be Marco Penge, the big-hitting Englishman who many expect to take the PGA Tour by storm.
He finished second on the Race To Dubai and didn't really blink when challenging Rory McIlroy down the stretch - proving he's got a big temperament to go along with his big game.
Penge only just kept his Tour card for 2025, but took full advantage by bagging three wins and five other top 10s. Big things are expected of him in the USA in 2026.
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The breakthrough stars
Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen all had breakout campaigns even if they have different profiles.
Saddier came through Q-School in 2023 and then won the Italian Open in 2025 on what was his 200th career start, and lost a playoff for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Reitan returned to the DP World Tour after a five-year absence and something clicked as he claimed his maiden victory at the Soudal Open to help earn his PGA Tour status before winning again at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Recent Australian Open champion Neergaard-Petersen is the latest young Dane to impress, and he's come flying through the ranks having only turned pro in 2023 - winning three times to finish as No.1 on the HotelPlanner Tour a year later.
His rookie DP World Tour season yielded eight top 10s and he impressed greatly with a T12 at the US Open, with a flying finish at the DP World Tour Championship to claim a PGA Tour card watch out for him next year.
Keita Nakajima is another exciting talent to watch. The Japanese man is a former World No.1 amateur with four Japan Golf Tour titles, a DP World Tour win and an impressive season featuring three runners-up finishes, including at the DP World India Championship where he pushed an in-form Tommy Fleetwood all the way.
The old heads
Adding some experience to the group is Alex Noren, Jordan Smith and Haotong Li - the charismatic 30-year-old Chinese player who played with Scottie Scheffler in the final round of The Open at Royal Portrush.
Two-time DP World Tour Smith narrowly missed out last year but has secured his US card this time after two runners-up finishes and four other top-10s this year.
Smith and Li will be joined by 43-year-old Noren, who had a massive resurgence down the second half of the season as he broke his seven-year wait for another tournament victory at the British Masters.
A huge win at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth followed soon after and he ended the year right up at No.11 in the OWGR after finishing second at the Hero World Challenge.
Yes, the OWGR has issues right now, but Noren has to be one of the best and most respected players to have won a PGA Tour card this way so far - and completes what looks like an elite group of players heading stateside next season.
Which DP World Tour graduate do you see having the most success on the PGA Tour in 2026? Let us know in the comment section below.
Which DPWT players earned 2026 PGA Tour cards?
- Marco Penge
- Kristoffer Reitan
- Adrien Saddier
- Alex Noren
- John Parry
- Haotong Li
- Keita Nakajima
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
- Jordan Smith
- Dan Brown

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.
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