PGA Championship Spots Up For Grabs As China Open Makes Return To DP World Tour Calendar

It’s all to play for at this week’s Volvo China Open with up to three spots at the impending PGA Championship available. 

The China Open, which returns to the DP World Tour schedule for the first time since 2019, will conclude the circuit’s Asian Swing, with players given one last chance to climb up the standings. 

The DP World Tour has a new format this year, with events separated into three new and distinct phases: Five ‘Global Swings’, ‘The Back 9’, and two final playoff events.

Each Global Swing will have its own champion, earning a $200,000 bonus as well as qualification into the next Rolex Series event. 

Min Woo Lee finished on top in the Opening Swing (Australia, South Africa and Mauritius), while Rory McIlroy won the International Swing (Middle East and Africa). 

Attention now turns to the finale of the Asian Swing at Shenzhen’s Hidden Grace Golf Club, which hosts the China Open for the sixth time, with the winner likely securing an exemption to next month’s PGA Championship. 

In fact, the top-three finishers of the final Asian Swing standings after the China Open will book their ticket to Valhalla Golf Club.

Sweden’s Sebastian Söderberg leads the standings at 589.95 points after claiming back-to-back runners-up finishes in Japan and India. 

Keita Nakajima of Japan, who has already qualified for the PGA Championship, sits in second at 572.54 points after winning the Hero Indian Open, while another Swede, Jesper Svensson, is in third with 500 points thanks to his victory in Singapore.

According to world rankings guru Nosferatu on Twitter, only three players can secure a spot at the upcoming Major with less than a win in China: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat (fourth place in the standings), Sam Bairstow of England (fifth), and American Johannes Veerman (sixth).

Everyone else will have a good chance of making the Asian Swing top three with victory on Sunday, with 500 ranking points awarded to the winner.

Another player in the Asian Swing standings who has already qualified for the PGA Championship is PGA Tour rookie Matthieu Pavon (ninth), who claimed his maiden title in the United States at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.

Only the top three in the Asian Swing standings (including those already exempt), will earn exemption to the PGA Championship.

After Valhalla, the DP World Tour will start its European Swing followed by the Closing Swing, before moving on to its second phase, The Back 9, and concluding with the DP World Tour playoffs.

The 2024 DP World Tour Race to Dubai format