Soren Kjeldsen Ends Lengthy Career on DP World Tour

The Genesis Championship was the final regular event in the 2024 DP World Tour season. And there were a whole range of emotions on display. For some, they did enough to keep their cards for 2025, for others it signals the end of the road. For now at least.

The top 114 in the Race to Dubai rankings get to do it all again. And that means the likes of Marco Penge, who started the week in 115th place, did enough to move up five places. And this after holing a crucial four-foot putt to make the cut. Veteran Ross Fisher ended the week on the mark and can do it all again.

But spare a thought for China’s Ashun Wu in 115th place. Also missing out and facing an uncertain future are David Law, Eddie Pepperell, Matthew Southgate, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Edoardo Molinari and Freddy Schott, all of whom will be desperate to make their way back.

After playing in 712 tournaments and failing to keep his card in South Korea, Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen has announced that he is walking away from the DP World Tour in order to focus on the Legends Tour and PGA Champions Tour when he turns 50 in May next year.

He made his debut in 1998 and had kept his playing rights for a remarkable 26 consecutive seasons and won four times, but this year he fell short of the mark, ending the season in 158th place in the rankings.

"It was tough playing the last hole but it has been great, everything comes to an end," he said after a closing one-under-par 71 in South Korea meant he would lose out on his full playing rights for next season. "I am really looking forward to playing the seniors. I am playing well, but these [younger] guys hit it 30, 40, 50 past me so it is tough to compete. I look forward to playing with someone my age."

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

It was only earlier this season that he became just the fourth player to make 700 or more appearances, emulating David Howell, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Sam Torrance. On Sunday, he finished what was his 712th start on the DP World Tour - only Howell (725) and Angel Jimenez (723) have played more.

The first of his victories came at the 2003 Diageo Championship at Gleneagles, and he followed that with a wire-to-wire victory at the Volvo Masters in 2008 at Valderrama.

Further success in Spain followed at the 2009 Open de Andalucia, with his fourth and biggest victory coming at Royal County Down in the 2015 Irish Open, defeating Pepperell and Bernd Wiesberger in a play-off.

He has also competed at all four majors, recording top tens in three of them, played on the PGA Tour with a full card and won the World Cup with Thorbjorn Olesen in 2016.