To hope to play the first Signature Events, Victor Perez must collect as many points as possible in January…

For Victor Perez, but also for Antoine Rozner, who will discover the PGA Tour early next year, the objective will above all be to get a good start between Hawaii and the Farmers to aim for a place in the field at Pebble Beach and at Los Angeles, at the Genesis Invitational, two tournaments with… 20 million dollars in prize money!

Lionel VELLA

The 2024 season of PGA Tour therefore ended this Sunday, November 24 at RSM Classic with the victory of the American Maverick McNealy. A success, the first of his career, which allows the 29-year-old Californian to grab 51st place in the FedEx Cup. A ranking certainly too short to take part in the eight Signature Events in 2025 (20 million dollars minimum endowment each) but more than enough to be at least at the start of two of them, theAT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (January 30-February 2) and Genesis Invitational (February 13-16).

Be ready to go straight away, starting in January…

Two high-end meetings for which Victor Perezunlike Matthew Pavon (17th in the FedEx Cup), is not yet qualified. 83rd in the final ranking for the 2024 financial year at the end of Fedex Cup Fall (eight end-of-season tournaments scheduled from September 12 to November 24), Tarbais will have to record solid results from the first weeks of January to hope to play at Pebble Beach or the Genesis Invitational.

For this, the Frenchman present this week in Australia on the DP World Tour must finish in the top 5 of the Aon Swing, this mini ranking bringing together non-exempt players (for Signature Events) having garnered a maximum of points in tournaments positioned between the Sentry (January 2-5) and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Either the Sony Open in Hawaii (January 9-12), theAmerican Express (January 16-19) and Farmers Insurance Open (January 22-25).

The DP World Tour rather than the FedEx Cup Fall

Having arrived straight from the European Tour thanks to one of the ten PGA Tour spots put into play for the first time last year, Victor Perez had to deal with physical problems which had prevented him from being in Hawaii then in The Fifthin California. For his return to competition at the end of January, he had not made the cut at Farmers then at WM Phoenix Open…

Having finished its regular season (after the first playoff tournament, the FedEx St. Jude Championship) in 71st place in the FedEx Cup, he could have continued with the FedEx Cup Fall to have a maximum chance of entering at least the top 60 “qualifiers” for Pebble Beach and the Genesis in Los Angeles. Instead, he preferred to focus his end of the season on the European Tour by being at Wentworth (England) for the BMW PGA Championshipat theSpanish Openau FedEx Open de France and finally to theAndalucia Masters. His objective here was to enter the top 70 of the Race in order to at least defend his trophy in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of November. But his results, even if he made the cut each time in these four tournaments, did not allow him to achieve this stated goal.

Left at the end of October for Japan to compete in ZOZO Championshipone of the FedEx Falls tournaments, the three-time winner on the DPWT finished beyond the top 30, ending his season on the PGA Tour here…

Antoine Rozner, probably at La Quinta to start

We would be tempted to argue that this mission to perform quickly on the PGA Tour in January is also the objective ofAntoine Rozner15th in the 2024 Race and qualified with nine other of his comrades on the toughest professional circuit on the planet. As he whispered to our colleagues from Golf+ Le Mag upon his return from Dubai (3rd in the DP World Tour Championship), the Racingman should normally start at the American Express.

Selected in the continental team for the Team Cup (January 10-12), he will not be able to line up in Hawaii, scheduled at the same time. It is up to him to do what is necessary to enter these very lucrative tournaments, like Matthieu Pavon, victorious at the end of January at Torrey Pines, at Farmers.

The 2023 class of the DP World Tour ensured

As such, the first promotion of the nine best non-exempts to the 2023 Race (Adrian Meronk having left at the end of January 2024 on the LIFE Golf) did very well on the PGA Tour. Six thus retain their full playing rights having finished in the top 125: Robert MacIntyre (17th thanks to his victories in RBC Canadian Open then at Scottish Open), Matthieu Pavon (17th), Victor Perez (83rd), Ryo Hisatsune (93e), Ryan Fox (118th) and Sami Välimäki (123rd). Despite a 170th place at the FedEx Cup, Thorbjørn Olesen he also remains on the PGA Tour having taken 13th place in the Race this season. Alone Jorge Campillo et Alexander Björkrespectively 154th and 179th in the FedEx Cup, return to the DP World Tour. We hope the new class* will have such a solid record at the end of next year!

*Rasmus Højgaard (2nd in the 2024 Race), Tristan Lawrence (3e), Paul Waring (5e), Jesper Svensson (10th), Niklas Nørgaard (11e), Matteo Manassero (12th), Thorbjørn Olesen (13th), Antoine Rozner (15th), Rikuya Hoshino (16e) and Tom McKibbin (18e).

Photo : @PGA Tour