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Rory McIlroy breaks new ground by playing in India this week as he returns to competition for the initial occasion since the Ryder Cup.

While the golf superstar widens his competitive experience, the DP World Tour begins the closing stage of this year's Race to Dubai. The world-class golfer is in the leading spot to secure the annual championship for the fourth season running and seventh occasion in total.

There are only three additional tournaments after the India Championship; the following week's Genesis tournament in Korean venue - which wraps up the second half of the schedule - and then the final two tournaments in the Arabian region.

These particular big money playoff tournaments in the UAE capital and Dubai are reserved for the leading seventy and then leading fifty in the season rankings.

But for the likes of Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this tournament lineup in the subcontinent, there is less pressure than you might imagine.

Sitting below the seventieth position, at first glance it would appear both require high finishes from their trip to the Indian course to keep alive their seasons. But, actually, they are guaranteed in advance of their positions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

This results from a rarely discussed but pragmatic exception whereby members of the European squad are also deemed eligible for the upcoming season finale events.

Fleetwood, who won the PGA Tour's play-offs with his impressive win at the season-ending event in Atlanta, lies ninety-fourth in the continental circuit's annual rankings. The Irish champion, who made the winning stroke that retained the Ryder Cup, is one hundred fifty-fifth.

Other European team-mates who can also qualify are Aberg (72nd) and Straka (one hundred forty-seventh).

This could challenge the integrity of a play-off system, which by definition is supposed to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this situation also illustrates realities faced by the headquartered European circuit.

The tour is reliant on big backers such as the title partner, who are also the naming sponsors of this week's event in the Asian nation. They need the biggest stars at their premier tournaments to validate the investment, which runs to millions of dollars.

Fleetwood has experienced one of his best seasons, capped by his maiden victory on American soil at East Lake just under two months ago.

Fleetwood represents one of the continent's elite players and, frankly, it would be inconceivable to stage the upcoming season climax without him.

Practical considerations trumps competitive integrity, even though the top-ranked player - a local resident - has reserved his strongest showings for events that do not count on his home tour.

Fleetwood has to date played only four DP World Tour events and been unable to place in the top 20 at any of them; the Dubai Desert Classic, UK tournament, BMW PGA Championship or Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Major championships also count on the season standings and his sixteenth-place finish at the Open was his only top 20 in the major events. But on the American-based circuit he enjoyed seven top-five finishes.

Fleetwood was also the team's highest contributor at Bethpage last month. It would be ridiculous for him not to be participating with the circuit's top performers at the conclusion of the campaign.

While in the previous era the American and European circuits were deadly rivals they are now inextricably linked thanks to the strategic alliance that supports DP World Tour prize funds.

As the English golfer, recent champion of the Open De Espana, has positioned himself in close pursuit as his closest rival at the summit of the season championship, much of the interest for the remaining schedule will have an American bias.

The storyline will be shaped by the competition for ten spots on the PGA Tour for those who do not currently possess tour cards in the United States. The rising star, with three DPWT wins, is assured of what is widely regarded as 'promotion' to the US circuit.

The Clitheroe-based pro, who also guaranteed invitations to the Augusta National and Open with his Madrid victory, is not in the India field but will mount a final push to try to overtake the leader at the peak of the rankings.

Meanwhile Dan Brown, the player Penge defeated in the Madrid play-off, is one of several British golfers in the thick of the competition for a 2026 PGA card.

Northern golfer Parry and the West Country pair of Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter also presently hold spots that would yield a golden ticket for the coming season.

Some observers view this development as evidence that the DP World Tour is now nothing more than a feeder for the larger circuit on the American continent.

But the organization maintain it is a crucial system that underpins their tour calendar, a necessary and attractive feature that optimizes playing opportunities for its members.

Undoubtedly this is the time of the year where the realities and compromises of elite golf competition seem at their clearest display.