With the DP World Tour playoff fields done and dusted, I thought this would be a good time to look at some of the European players who have struggled this year (on both main tours). And I’m not looking for guys who just undelivered on the promise of last season (I’m looking at you Mr Fleetwood). No, I’m talking about players who have fallen significantly down the European golfing pyramid.
4. Rasmus Hojgaard
It seems incredible to me that a player of Hojgaard’s ability is currently languishing in 113th place in the FedEx Cup standings (he missed the cut in his most recent event at the Bank of Utah Championship). It probably doesn’t help that twin brother Nicolai enjoyed a very solid season, narrowly missing out on qualification for the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake. Fortunately for Hojgaard, he is still firmly entrenched between 100 and 125 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, meaning he will still enjoy conditional status on the PGA Tour. He will also remain a full DP World Tour member due to his past wins and category exemptions. Still, this has been quite a hard fall for one of the victorious members of the Ryder Cup side that tamed Bethpage Black (and the who came 2nd in the 2024 Race to Dubai standings).
3. Mathieu Pavon
The elegant Frenchman was a breath of fresh air during the 2024 PGA Tour season, claiming victory at the Farmers Insurance Open while contending at both the Masters and the US Open. That victory at Torrey Pines made him the first Frenchman to win a PGA Tour title since Arnaud Massey all the way back in 1907! The usually surgical Pavon has struggled on approach this season, currently ranking 150th on the PGA Tour. He backed himself to get out of his American mess but has missed 11 out of 22 PGA Tour cuts. He missed the cut at last week’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship and look almost certain to lose his PGA Tour playing privileges. Pavon barely played any DP World Tour golf this season, notably finishing in a tie for 3rd in front of his home fans at the Open de France. He put all his eggs in the admittedly swanky US PGA Tour basket. He will fortunately be eligible to accept full membership back onto the DP World Tour thorough Category 12 exemption (for all the PGA Tour players in the 126-200 range in FedEx Cup Fall standings).
2. Thorbjorn Olesen
Any WWE aficionado will know of the ‘Plane Ride from Hell’, where Ric Flair and co went on a debauched rampage on a chartered flight back from London. Danish golfing ace Thorbjorn Olesen endured his own wild ride aboard a British Airlines flight back in 2019, seriously derailing his promising career. The former Ryder Cupper got his act together and played his way back onto the US PGA Tour in 2024. But he endured a nightmarish time on the US PGA Tour this season, missing eight out of 15 cuts while failing to pick up a top-ten finish. He returned to the DP World Tour for solace and did enjoy a top-ten finish at the British Masters. But a missed cut at the Irish Open was followed by an early withdrawal at Wentworth, where a shoulder issue effectively ended his Race to Dubai hopes. Olesen is destined for Q-School after finishing 123rd in the standings.
1. Pablo Larrazabal
This one got me in the feels, I’m not going to lie. Pablo Larrazabal has been an absolute stalwart on the ever-shifting DP World Tour, winning nine titles over a 19-year run on the circuit. But the emotional Spainard needed a miracle heading into last week’s Genesis Championship, requiring a runner-up finish or better to retain his card for a 20th successive campaign. But Larrazabal missed yet another cut, making it the 15th time in 27 events that he has failed to make the weekend this year. The Spainard was visibly shaken by the prospects of returning to Q-School for the first time in 20 years, tracing his demise all the way back to the title-winning putt he missed at last year’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.
