Tom McKibbin’s move to LIV Golf in January came after he’d already secured one of the 10 PGA Tour cards awarded through the European tour’s Race to Dubai. His late departure meant Jordan Smith, who finished 11th in the standings, couldn’t take his place.
Turns out that might have been a blessing in disguise for Smith.
Only one of the nine Europeans who took PGA Tour cards this year has actually managed to keep his status for 2026 – Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark. Hojgaard, who topped last year’s qualifying group, is also the only one maintaining dual-tour membership. He’s currently No. 34 in Europe and competing in this week’s DP World Tour Championship. He also made his Ryder Cup debut this year.
The other eight European graduates have just two tournaments left to either finish in the top 100 of the FedExCup or win an event to maintain full status. Thorbjorn Olesen looks to be in good shape at No. 95 in the FedExCup (while also securing his European tour card at No. 98).
Sweden’s Jesper Svensson sits at No. 121, while none of the others have cracked the top 50. England’s Paul Waring had to essentially end his season in July due to a shoulder injury.
Getting tournament starts wasn’t the issue. Except for Waring, who played 12 times before getting hurt, the European graduates averaged about 20 PGA Tour starts. The real problem was being locked out of the $20 million signature events with their enhanced FedExCup points.
Hojgaard played in three signature events – two as Europe’s top qualifier and the Truist Championship as one of the top five players not already eligible from performances leading up to it.
As for Smith?
He was understandably frustrated by last year’s situation. Everyone knew McKibbin was considering LIV, but by the time he jumped, the PGA Tour season had already started and the 10 European cards were locked in. Smith has made it clear that reaching the PGA Tour “is a big goal of mine.”
“It’s just one of those things you have to take on the chin and use it as fuel to get one of those cards the next time,” Smith told the Daily Mail in June.
Smith currently sits No. 15 in the Race to Dubai and holds what would be the 10th and final PGA Tour card position heading into this week’s season finale. He’s clinging to a 135-point lead over France’s Martin Couvra and a 174-point advantage over Daniel Hillier.
Current top 10 in the Race to Dubai standings:
1. Marco Penge
2. Kristoffer Reitan
3. Adrien Saddier
4. John Parry
5. Alex Noren
6. Laurie Canter
7. Haotong Li
8. Daniel Brown
9. Keita Nakajima
10. Jordan Smith
