The leading ten players, not otherwise exempt, on the season-ending DP World Tour Race to Dubai rankings earned PGA Tour cards for 2025. Coming into the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates, only three players had solidified themselves in the top 10, meaning seven spots were up for grabs.

There was a tournament going on, a big one at that. But for a few of the players in the 50-strong field at the DP World Tour Championship—the 44th and last event on the Old World circuit this season—there was a whole new level of pressure.

Rory McIlroy is within sight of a season-ending double in Dubai after finishing the third round of the DP World Tour Championship in a three-way tie for the lead. The Northern Irishman was already as good as assured of winning the Race to Dubai title for a sixth time when he arrived at the Earth Course at the start of the week.