What Next For Golfers Who Have Lost Their Tour Cards

Sport can provide some fabulous rewards. It can change lives. But boy, can it be seriously brutal.

While the top 70 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai battle it out for much gold this week in Abu Dhabi and then again in Dubai seven days later, many others will be cursing the missed putts, the bad bounces, the missed cuts and wondering what the future holds for them after losing their playing privileges.

This is a sport that is bursting at the seams with talented young golfers who hit the ball a country mile and are utterly fearless. And even for them there are no guarantees. 

Marco Penge is one of the longest hitters in the world. He began 2024 filled with hope and expectation. But he needed to hole a four-foot putt to make the cut at the Genesis Championship in South Korea to give himself a chance to save his season. He grabbed it with both hands and did enough to finish in 110th place in the rankings. 

It doesn’t sound like much of an achievement but the pressure on his shoulders was enormous and he now gets another chance to live his dream in 2025. Ross Fisher is at the other end of his career. He finished the season in 114th place.

But for others there is nothing but uncertainty. It doesn’t matter how many tournaments you have won in the past. The years start to catch up with everybody and golfers in their forties would not be human if they didn’t start looking over their shoulders.

For me, there are three names that stand out among those facing an uncertain future - Edoardo Molinari, James Morrison and Eddie Pepperell. We will return to Pepperell later.

After a combined 32 seasons on the DP World Tour, Molinari and Morrison face the challenge of trying to regain their cards through Qualifying School. They have both done it before but that doesn’t make the six-round marathon in Spain any easier, especially with so many hungry young whippersnappers biting at their heels.

With five DP World Tour titles, a Ryder Cup and 857 starts between them, the life of a tour professional is all they have known during their adult lives. And they have run the full gamut of emotions in that time.

For both men, their fate was officially sealed in Korea. In reality, the damage was done long before that. 

Morrison arrived at the Genesis Championship still with an outside chance of keeping his card. He made the cut but when all the sums were done he was in 122nd place. Having previously battled to keep his card in 2017, 2018 and 2019, he will return to Qualifying School for the first time since 2013.

Morrison, who was unable to record a top 10 for the first time since 2008, said: "There are a mixture of emotions. Obviously there were a few guys on the bubble, very close to the mark. I was a bit behind, so I didn’t have much pressure to be honest. I needed half a miracle to keep my card.

"We are very privileged to do what we do, we play the best courses in the world, in the best conditions in the world so I don’t think you can complain too much whether you keep your card or lose it. Other jobs have more pressure than what we do."

Morrison is 39 years old. He has been there and done it. Can he really face putting himself through it all once again? 

"Fifteen years on Tour is a long time," he said. "This was my 430th event so I think the next chapter is upon me, which is pretty exciting and pretty scary at the same time. I’d love to do some commentary stuff eventually but as they say I have got a face for radio, so who knows."

Morrison should draw some consolation from the fact that Miguel Angel Jimenez won most of his DP World titles after he reached 40 years of age. And he is not alone - Vijay Singh became a serial winner in his 40s, Phil Mickelson was 50 when he won the US PGA and Tiger Woods was 43 when he won The Masters in 2019. So there is still hope.

Molinari is one of Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup vice-captains, and that means he can almost certainly count on sponsors’ invitations in 2025. But it is not the way he would have wanted his career to play out. He admitted that his efforts to keep his card had left him drained, saying: "I am looking forward to spending some time at home with my kids and my wife. I am really missing them. It has been a long year. I go to Qualifying School and then I am looking forward to a lot of weeks at home with them. I want to spend some more time with them."

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Pepperell is something of an enigma. A hugely gifted golfer, he has a big following on social media and his posts are must-read stuff. He is still only 33 years old and should be in his prime. He has an added incentive, having recently got married.

He left no stone unturned in his efforts to keep his card, playing 11 weeks on the trot in an effort to do so. And he came so close, a final round of 68 in Korea taking him to 34th place in the Genesis but it only took him from 124th to 120th place in the rankings. Everybody who misses out will reflect on horror holes, and none more so that Pepperell, who took a nine at the 16th hole during the second round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship when on the fringes of contention.

It is a reality that sport has a habit of kicking you when you are down. How you deal with it is what defines you - and I will be rooting for Pepperell, Molinari and Morrison.