The DP World Tour certainly seems to be taking its opportunity to shine right now, with Tyrrell Hatton edging Nicolas Colsaerts on the final green to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews on Sunday.
Tyrrell Hatton made history with his third Alfred Dunhill Links Championship win, while the DP World Tour enjoyed another close finish. Of course, Hatton’s victory came off the back of an amazing run of results for the European Tour.
The last player to win by more than one shot was Niklas Norgaard at the British Masters. Since then, Matt Wallace, Billy Horschel and Angel Hidalgo have all won in play-offs, while Rory McIlroy missed a putt on the last to force a play-off with Rasmus Hojgaard at the Irish Open.
It is what the DP World Tour arguably needs. But it was noticeable that there was a lot of frustration in the field on the final day at the Dunhill Links. Robert MacIntyre spoke about the 17th at St Andrews being one of the worst holes in golf, while Hatton was furious on a number of greens.
Eddie Pepperell reveals how a lot of players feel after the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Obviously, Hatton’s antics are nothing new. But there does appear to be some real dissatisfaction amongst the players, with Eddie Pepperell telling The Chipping Forecast that no-one is particularly pleased about the events coming thick and fast at this stage of the year.
“I don’t think there’s any player that’s that happy with the schedule, I really don’t,” he said.
“Everyone feels as though they have to push for something because every 20 spots in the rankings, there’s something on it. But we’ve put nine back to back events to finish the season on top of a busy summer and a busy spring. And I don’t know a DP World Tour member that’s happy about the schedule, and I just think people are playing more golf than they would otherwise want to, and that has a knock-on impact.
“I think that’s why people are grumpy and again, I’m not looking for sympathy, I just think that’s the fact of the matter. Maybe it’s coming through on the television, which is a shame.”
The issue the DP World Tour cannot avoid
The problem the DP World Tour has is that it has fallen into a clear third place when it comes to star power over the last couple of years. While LIV Golf has nothing like the depth of the DP World Tour, you are guaranteed to see a vast number of major champions every time LIV hosts an event.
So if the DP World Tour put their biggest tournaments up against a signature event on the PGA Tour or any LIV event, they are likely to suffer massively. In fact, given the travel involved, there probably needs to be some space around that DP World Tour event if they are going to attract stronger fields.
The players – particularly those who spend their year on the DP World Tour – definitely suffer. Rory McIlroy has led the Race To Dubai throughout the year, but his previous appearance before the Irish Open at a regular DP World Tour event came back in January.
Ultimately, the DP World Tour know that their best chance of attracting multiple superstars as things stand comes by scheduling several marquee tournaments at this stage of year. But Pepperell’s complaints just act as another reminder that, eventually, something has to give.
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