After win in Spain, Adrian Meronk takes top spot in Race to Dubai-PGA TOUR Eligibility rankings

After a win Sunday on the DP World Tour, Adrian Meronk has narrowly supplanted Ryan Fox atop the Race to Dubai Rankings – PGA TOUR Eligibility ranking. Meronk shot a final-round 66 to overcome a four-stroke deficit and beat Matti Schmid by one shot for his third DP World Tour title of the season.

This is the first year that the top 10 in the Race to Dubai who are not yet exempt on the PGA TOUR will earn PGA TOUR cards for the following season. The No. 1 player will be fully exempt in 2024 and earn a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship.

Meronk is third in the overall Race to Dubai standings, behind only Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, after his third win of the season. Meronk also won the ISPS HANDA Australian Open and the DS Automobiles Italian Open. The victory also moved Meronk to No. 46 in the Official World Golf Ranking, putting him in line for a spot in the Masters if he can stay in the top 50 at year’s end.

Meronk and Fox are locked in a tight battle for the top spot with three events remaining in the season. Fox won this year’s BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event on the DP World Tour. The 10 cards will be awarded after the DP World Tour Championship on Nov. 16-19 in Dubai.

Meronk led the rankings for much of the season until Fox tallied a trio of top-3 finishes this fall. Fox finished T3 at the Horizon Irish Open in September, then won the BMW PGA Championship the following week to claim the top spot. He added a runner-up at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He finished T52 at the Andalucía Masters.

The win marked Meronk’s first top-10 since the BMW International Open in June.

Fox earned Special Temporary Membership on the PGA TOUR for this season after solid finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (T14), THE PLAYERS (T27), World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play (T17), Masters Tournament (T26), PGA Championship (T23) and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (T30).

He also finished T12 at the Genesis Scottish Open, his best on the PGA TOUR this season.

Victor Perez finished T9 at the Andalucía Masters and moved to third in the Race to Dubai Rankings – PGA TOUR Eligibility ranking while Min Woo Lee, who was competing in the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, dropped to fourth. There were no other changes in the top 10, with Alexander Björk, Robert MacIntyre, Ryo Hisatsune, Thorbjørn Olesen, Joost Luiten and Marcel Siem rounding out the group.

Hisastsune, who recently won the French Open, and Lee both tied for sixth at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP.

Lee’s T6 finish last week in Japan could open another 2024 PGA TOUR card via the DP World Tour Rankings. Lee, who has top-10s at this year’s U.S. Open and THE PLAYERS, currently has 505 non-member FedExCup points, which would rank him 94th in the FedExCup Fall standings. If Lee earns a number of non-member points equal to or greater than No. 125 on the final FedExCup Fall standings, then he will earn a 2024 PGA TOUR card via that avenue and another spot will open up in the Race to Dubai Rankings – PGA TOUR Eligibility ranking. The FedExCup Fall standings will be finalized after The RSM Classic on Nov. 19.

Yannik Paul currently ranks 11th in the Race to Dubai – PGA TOUR Eligibility ranking, 20 points ahead of Matthieu Pavon. Rasmus Hojgaard is 13th in the standings. His twin brother Nicolai, who played on this year’s European Ryder Cup team, is in line to earn a TOUR card via non-member points, as well. His 466 points would currently rank 108th in the FedExCup Fall standings.

The DP World Tour now heads to Qatar and South Africa before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.