New DPWT schedule will force fascinating Ryder Cup decision

The DP World Tour released its 2027 schedule on Wednesday – and it featured a few notable changes.

There are some big time additions. The Singapore Open (in April, now presented by Deutsche Bank) and the Hong Kong Open (in October) will be co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour. LIV Golf had played events at both locations several times in recent years; its realignment with the DP World Tour it’s a story in itself.

The Open de Portugal (in May) also returns to the calendar for the first time since 2020 and adds to the DP World Tour’s list of historic national openings. Those national openings have been a major focus of the tour as it seeks to double the meaning and significance of its global calendar. (The DPWT refers to itself as “Golf’s Global Tour”, including in this new version of the calendar.)

There may also be some events that disappear from the calendar. There is a “TBC” as part of the Asian Swing in March, and the Hero Indian Open is no longer on the schedule. There is also a “TBC” in August, where the Danish Golf Championship has disappeared. There is a final “TBC” at the end of October, just before the postseason – a spot that had been occupied by the Genesis Championship in South Korea. The Austrian Alpine Open and the Nexo Championship (in Scotland) are also missing from the calendar.

You can read more about those changes here. I am particularly intrigued, however, by two planning specifics.

First up is the Irish Open, which is moving from its current location in September to the first week of July. This means that he will start a formidable trio of tournaments: the Irish Open, then the Scottish Open, then the Open Championship.

Links golf fans clamored for this exact change. After all, there is romance to the PGA Tour’s overseas swing; seeing the pros chasing the light of day in North Berwick often serves as a reminder to them and to us that we actually love this sport. And while it’s worth noting that the 2027 Irish Open won’t be played on a links course – it’s being held at the parkland K Club in Co. Kildare – the atmosphere also contributes to the accumulation of weeks at the Open.

However, unlike the Scottish Open, the Irish is not co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour, so it will be interesting to see how the players structure their schedules – especially the last two Irish Open champions, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. play everything it would mean going to the US Open-Travelers Championship-Irish Open-Scottish Open-Open Championship, a tiring but exhilarating five-week jaunt. My prediction? We won’t see McIlroy at TPC River Highlands for that Signature Event, and we won’t see Lowry, either. (Of course, we don’t see the John Deere Classic, which runs in front of the Irish.)

I’ll also be interested to see if any big-time pros opt to play in the Irish Open, but skip the Scottish; some guys prefer to have a week off to go to a major championship. Something to monitor.

The second place that has my attention is the schedule around the Ryder Cup. The PGA Tour’s season finale, the Tour Championship, takes place August 26-29. There are no PGA Tour events in the following two weeks, but there are two DP World Tour events, the Omega European Masters (in Switzerland) and the FedEx Open de France.

Will we see Team Europe congregate in the Swiss Alps two weeks before the Ryder Cup for team bonding, fondue and milk chocolate? Will the American side take these two weeks as adequate rest before going to Adare Manor? It will be a fascinating dynamic for the captains to work with.

Then there is the week following the Ryder Cup: the BMW PGA Championship, one of the flagship events of the DP World Tour, which will happen shortly after the Ryder Cup at Wentworth in England. I would expect almost the entire European team to play. The question is whether they’ll come from a team win when they do — and how many Americans will be across the pond to play as well.

What does all this mean for the future of the DP World Tour? It’s too dark to tell. The timing of the release of the calendar is particularly interesting in the context of his surrounding tours. Earlier this week, the PGA Tour released its eligibility criteria for the new flagship championship series 2028; buried in that announcement was a giant “TBD” when it comes to the future of the Tour’s relationship and strategic alliance with the DPWT.

There is also the matter of LIV’s future; The league is going through bankruptcy, but it is also expected to communicate something about its vision for 2027 to the players this week. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said he doesn’t plan to roll out the red carpet to LIV pros hoping to return; it’s not clear how much softer the landing will be on the DP World Tour.

So there is a lot that we know, but even more that we don’t know. There is no need to advance ourselves; pleasure this the DPWT offering of the week, the BMW PGA Championship. We’ll get to that next year when we get there.