The PGA Tour and DP World Tour have shored up partnerships with both the Korean PGA Tour and the Professional Golf Tour of India, expanding the formalized pathway for players to move to the DP World Tour from these two circuits.
The DP World Tour and PGA Tour has expanded their relationship with the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA) that will mean the KPGA’s Genesis point award winner will earn membership onto the DP World Tour for the ensuing season, starting with the 2023 season.
As part of the expanded partnership, the new Korea Championship will also be played on the DP World Tour with a $2 million purse. Further discussions to enhance the partnership will happen for 2024.
Additionally, the DP World Tour and PGA Tour have announced a new partnership with the Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (Tata Steel PGTI). The leading player on the 2022 Tata Steel PGTI Rankings will earn DP World Tour membership for the following season. The next-highest ranked non-exempt player in the top ten on the India-based tour's rankings will earn a spot in DP World Tour Qualifying School final stage, while the next three players will earn spots into the second stage.
PGTI players will also have access to 60 spots in each of the two Challenge Tour events which will be played in India next March.
The relationship also includes commitments to developing golf in India, including strategic development, commercial growth and increasing prize money for a host of PGTI tournaments.
These partnerships follow on from the announcement of a formal pathway to the DP World Tour from the Japan Golf Tour Organization. The PGA Tour and DP World Tour have teamed up to secure partnerships that help them create a more formal structure to their golf ecosystem, while helping them perhaps stave off similar partnerships between these tours and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which has a strategic partnership with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Tour for co-sanctioning events.
