Ryder Cup snub Adrian Meronk among 10 DP World Tour players headed to PGA Tour
Ten players, including Adrian Meronk, earned their PGA Tour cards at last week’s DP World Tour Championship.
Ten players from the DP World Tour have a new home on the PGA Tour.
As part of the strategic alliance between the two circuits, the top 10 finishers—not otherwise exempt—in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai standings earned PGA Tour cards for the 2024 season. This marks the first time DP World Tour players could play their way onto the PGA Tour.
One of those 10 golfers is Adrian Meronk of Poland, who finished atop the rankings. Many felt Meronk was snubbed from the European Ryder Cup team two months ago.
“It’s been a goal to mine since we found out we are playing for PGA Tour cards,” Meronk said after his round on Sunday.
“I’m very glad that I’m going to be playing on the PGA Tour. I played some tournaments this year and gained some experience. I’m looking forward to it.”
With that, let’s take a look at the 10 DP World Tour players who will play on the PGA Tour in 2024:
1. Adrian Meronk — Poland
The 30-year-old Pole won three times on the DP World Tour this season: the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, the DS Automobiles Italian Open, and most recently, the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.
He had a career year and rightfully earned his way on the PGA Tour.
On top of his three victories, Meronk recorded four other top-10 finishes on the DP World Tour. Statistically, the Pole finished first on the DP World Tour in strokes gained off the tee and second in strokes gained overall.
Simply, Meronk is one of the best drivers of the golf ball on the planet.
He made 11 starts on the PGA Tour during its wraparound 2022-23 season, too, with his best finish coming at the Honda Classic, where he tied for 14th.
Meronk also tied for 23rd at The Open and tied for 40th at the PGA Championship. He missed the cut at the Los Angeles Country Club.
2. Ryan Fox — New Zealand
Ryan Fox won the BMW PGA Championship in mid-September, finishing atop a loaded field that included the entire European Ryder Cup team.
The week before he won at Wentworth, Fox finished in a tie for third at the Horizon Irish Open. He also tied for second at the rain-shortened Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October.
This late-season surge helped Fox climb the Road to Dubai rankings, so much so that he is now headed to the PGA Tour. The Kiwi made 13 starts this past season on the PGA Tour, with his best finish coming at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he tied for 14th.
3. Victor Perez — France
The Frenchman really earned his 2024 PGA Tour card back in January, when he won the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship—one of the Rolex Signature Events on the DP World Tour.
The victory soared Perez up the rankings, and he has not come close to dropping out of the top 10 since.
Overall, he had a solid season on the DP World Tour. Perez recorded four top-10 finishes, which includes his victory in the Middle East.
He most recently finished solo eighth at the DP World Tour Championship.
4. Thorbjørn Olesen — Denmark
Olesen, who turns 34 on Dec. 21, has had a terrific 2022-23 season on the DP World Tour. He finished in the top 10 in eight of the 24 tournaments he played in, which includes his victory at the Thailand Classic in February.
After withdrawing from the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Olesen tied for ninth in back-to-back events and then finished solo third at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.
His 69.80 scoring average ranked ninth on the DP World Tour.
The Dane most recently finished in solo 26th at the DP World Tour Championship, but he was never in jeopardy of falling out of the PGA Tour’s top-10 rankings.
5. Alexander Björk — Sweden
American fans are not too familiar with Björk, as the Swede has made only four starts on the PGA Tour since 2020. And yet, none of those events occurred on American soil, as he has teed it up in the last two Genesis Scottish Opens and the two most recent Open Championships.
Nevertheless, Björk is a solid player despite not having a win on the DP World Tour this year.
He recorded a career-high eight top-10s, which includes two runner-up finishes at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship and the Omega European Masters.
Björk also ranked second in strokes gained approaching the green, and fourth in strokes gained overall.
6. Sami Välimäki — Finland
Another relative unknown to American golf fans, Välimäki most recently won the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in a playoff over Jorge Campillo.
The 25-year-old from Finland turned professional in 2019 after completing mandatory military service for his country. Every male Finnish citizen is required to serve and defend their country for at least six months.
As soon as Välimäki left the barracks, he headed straight for the winner’s circle. He won a German PGA event in Morocco in the spring of 2019, which allowed him to play on the Challenge Tour—Europe’s equivalent of the Korn Ferry Tour.
Then, the young Finn earned his way onto the DP World Tour and quickly found success there.
Välimäki won the Oman Open for his maiden DP World Tour victory before COVID-19 temporarily shut down operations in March 2020.
This year, he recorded six top-10s, including his win in Qatar.
7. Robert MacIntyre — Scotland
Unlike Björk and Välimäki, Robert MacIntyre has quite a pedigree among American golf fans.
He helped lead Team Europe to victory at the Ryder Cup, where he did not lose a single match.
Earlier this summer, MacIntyre pressed Rory McIlroy down the stretch at the Genesis Scottish Open. The Scotsman’s second shot on the 72nd hole at The Renaissance Club was one of the best of the year. But he was bested by McIlroy’s own heroics, as he ultimately finished solo second.
Overall, MacIntyre finished within the top 10 seven times on the DP World Tour. He most recently tied for 18th at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
8. Matthieu Pavon — France
You may remember Matthieu Pavon’s name from the 2023 U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.
During Thursday’s opening round, Pavon arrived at the short par-3 15th hole at 2-over par.
He then hit his wedge onto the green and reeled it back into the hole for an incredible ace. Two days later, the 15th played as the shortest hole in U.S. Open history.
Pavon, however, missed the cut, so he could not experience the little devil that measured 81 yards.
ACE ON 15 @matthieupavon #USOpen pic.twitter.com/A3LrX0OGrG
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 15, 2023
Alas, the Frenchman had a great year on the DP World Tour. He won the Spanish Open in Madrid and had eight top-10 finishes overall.
He also played well at the season-ending tour championship in Dubai, carding four rounds in the 60s to finish in a tie for 5th.
9. Jorge Campillo — Spain
The 37-year-old Spaniard has made only five career PGA Tour starts despite being one of the best golfers out of Indiana University.
In 2008, Campillo won the Big Ten ‘Triple Crown,’ which consists of winning Big Ten Golfer of the Year, the Les Bolstad Award—given to the player with the lowest scoring average in the Big Ten—and he won the individual Big Ten Championship at Forest Akers West Course in Lansing, Michigan.
He turned professional a year later and has predominately played on the Challenge and European Tours since.
This year, Campillo won the Magical Kenya Open and lost to Sami Välimäki in a playoff in Qatar. He finished in the top-10 four other times.
10. Ryo Hisatsune — Japan
Get used to hearing young Ryo Hisatsune’s name more often.
The young 21-year-old burst onto the scene by winning the 2023 Cazoo Open de France in October, becoming the first Japanese golfer to win in continental Europe in 40 years.
His rise to professional golf is rather remarkable, as he entered European Qualifying School in the fall of 2022. He finished seventh there, thus earning his card to play on the DP World Tour during the 2022-23 season.
Shortly after that, he tied for second at the Fortinent Australian PGA Championship, finishing three shots behind Cameron Smith.
He then became a force on the DP World Tour, recording eight top-10s overall in his rookie season.
He also held off a charging Rasmus Højgaard in the standings, as Hisatsune—not Højgaard—secured the final PGA Tour card available to DP World Tour members.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.