Ryder Cup loophole saves Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry from Playoffs axe

Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry have been thrown a lifeline ahead of next month’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and DP World Tour Championship — all thanks to a little-known Ryder Cup loophole that’s guaranteed to raise eyebrows across the DP World Tour.

Although things could change dramatically this week as a result of both Lowry and Fleetwood in action at the DP World India Championship, as it stands ahead of the inaugural event both men sit miles outside the top 70 in the Race to Dubai standings.

The DP World Tour's season-ending Playoffs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are reserved for the top 70 and then top 50 in the standings.

Only a rulebook twist means both Fleetwood and Lowry will still get to tee it up in the opening leg of the DP World Tour Playoffs from 6-9 November.

Fleetwood is down in 94th, with Lowry even further adrift at 155th.

But their Ryder Cup heroics at Bethpage Black have handed them a free pass to golf’s desert showdown.

Some fans are even questioning whether this is an even worse rule than the envelope rule that benefitted Europe in New York...

Buried deep in the DP World Tour handbook lies a clause that automatically grants all Team Europe members entry into both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

That means Fleetwood, Lowry, and also Ludvig Åberg (72nd) and Sepp Straka (147th) all get to skip the normal qualifying grind — a major reward for their efforts in helping Luke Donald’s men beat Team USA 15–13 in a raucous Ryder Cup clash at Bethpage Black last month. 

While Fleetwood and Lowry both plan to play in Abu Dhabi and Dubai next month, Straka has yet to confirm his participation in both Middle East events and Aberg has yet to give a green light for the DP World Tour Championship. 

Fleetwood and Lowry’s DP World Tour schedules have been light this year, with the majority of their golf played on the PGA Tour — but that won’t stop them cashing in big on the former European Tour next month. 

Fleetwood has earned 531.47 Race to Dubai points so far this season, with Lowry on just 231.70 — yet both are now heading for a prize pot that could make even their eyes water.

Last year’s Abu Dhabi event paid out £6.76m, with winner Paul Waring scooping a huge £1.15m. 

Even runners-up bagged nearly three-quarters of a million.

The 2025 purse hasn’t been finalised, but insiders expect it to be north of £1 million to the champion — meaning the Ryder Cup duo could pocket serious cash just for showing up.

Then when it comes to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, which takes place the week after Abu Dhabi, the stakes rise even further.

Last year, McIlroy received a first prize of just under €3m for winning the tournament in Dubai. 

Even the runner-up earned just over €1m. 

McIlroy is currently leading the season-long Race to Dubai once again too.

The World No.2 is some 400 points clear of three-time season winner Marco Penge.

McIlroy, who completed the career grand slam at The Masters in April, is looking to win the order of merit title for a seventh time, and should he do it he'll move to within one of all-time record holder Colin Montgomerie. 

The winner of the Race to Dubai banks an additional first prize of $2m. 

Most of Europe’s Ryder Cup heavyweights will be in Abu Dhabi, including Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre, Rasmus Højgaard, Justin Rose and Viktor Hovland — all comfortably inside the top 70.

However, one big name definitely won’t make the trip. Jon Rahm confirmed after his home Open de Espana last weekend that he’ll skip the season-ending events, opting to spend time with his family before kicking off the new LIV Golf season in February 2026.

For those wondering — no, the Ryder Cup exemption doesn’t bump anyone out.

The DP World Tour will simply expand its fields, meaning all the players who’ve earned their spots through the regular season will still get their shot at glory.