For two consecutive weeks, two $8 million Rolex Series, the Abu Dhabi Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic, kicked off the 2022 DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour).
Two Chinese players were happy and worried in Abu Dhabi last week: Wu Ashun won the 12th place with a three-round red-letter performance, the best performance on the European Tour in the past year, and Li Haotong did not survive the second round of the wind and suffering, regrettably missing the final with a one shot...
This week, the two will move on to the Dubai Desert Classic. The Rolex Series' "Middle East Trilogy" is one of the highest-level and most difficult tournaments of the year on the DP Tour. Can Wu Ashun and Li Haotong participate in these two top events back-to-back, does it mean that their "European Tour membership" guarantee card is worry-free? If not, how many DP Tour games can the two of them play in 2022?
Wu Ashun tweeted today to show a Li Haotong preparing for Dubai
I believe that these two points are the concerns of many domestic golfers. Then, Uncle Bird will try to answer it.
Before analyzing, we first need to clarify the following 3 facts:
Wu Ashun and Li Haotong have successfully "guaranteed the card" and will be able to participate in this year's DP Tour.
The two were able to join the competition at the beginning of the year thanks to a special epidemic policy.
The challenge for the two is to strive for a higher "participation pick". The higher pick will determine the number of matches this year, and then determine whether they can "save the card" at the end of the year and participate in the DP Tour in the 2023 season.
"Safety Net"
The reason why Wu and Li are successful in "guaranteeing cards" is because in June 2021, the European Tour issued a policy called "Safety Net", in the context of the impact of the epidemic on global travel, in order to protect the rights and interests of its members, all the players who failed to rank among the top 110 players in the Dubai competition in the 2021 season - that is, the "insurance card" failures were retained and extended to the 2022 season.
However, these players will only be placed in the 16c category for the new season – not only below the category 10 of the top 110 in dubai competitions (actually the top 121, i.e. successful players), but also below the category 14 of the 20 "graduates" who have been promoted from the European Challenge Tour – that is, when a match line-up is not registered in the first 15 categories, players in category 16 are eligible to register.
The DP Tour implements a safety net policy to ensure membership for all players
It may seem like a low pick, but in fact, the number of players in the category 16 will not be too small, and it is initially expected that players in this category will be able to participate in at least 12-15 games this year, which is equivalent to a "half card".
In the final ranking of the Dubai competition last year, Wu Ashun ranked 137th with 282.4 points, and Li Haotong ranked 208th with 86.9 points - according to the "safety net" policy, they will theoretically get at least the first place in category 16c - a "half card" has arrived, and the right to work on more than ten DP Tours has been guaranteed, which is why we say that Wu and Li have saved this season's participation card.
It is worth mentioning that another Chinese player who qualified for this year's DP Tour, Zhang Huilin, was classified as Category 17 in the member race, which is further than Category 16c. This means that li haotong and Wu Ashun's priority in registering for the competition is higher than that of Zhang Huilin – equivalent to the competition that the latter can participate in, And Wu and Li can definitely participate.
8 and 4 games
But do Li Haotong and Wu Ashun have to be "condescending" category 16? Not necessarily. It's up to them to play well in early 2022.
Category 3a has only 3 players
In the current DP Tour picks, Li Haotong and Wu Ashun are both in Category 3a – a super high pick only to the previous Dubai champion, Grand Slam/World Championship winner, and the top seed of the championship in the past two years. In other words, only 55 players are ranked ahead of Wu Li, and for a 132-man Rolex series, there is certainly no problem for two Chinese players to qualify – which also explains why Li Haotong and Wu Ashun can play two top competitions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
It is worth noting that Category 3a has only 3 players, in addition to two Chinese players, there is also Englishman Paul Wallin, and in the official explanation, Category 3a is called "Membership Extension". This is actually a category similar to the PGA Tour's "medical protection clauses", for players like Wu Ashun and Li Haotong, who missed the DP Tour schedule due to the special epidemic prevention policies of their host countries, the DP Tour specially set up this category at the end of 2021 to make up for the players in this category in the new season in the way of "isolation days for the number of games".
Wu Ashun returned to China several times last year to participate in the Olympic Games and the National Games, and Li Haotong also represented Guangdong in the final of the National Games. According to the number of days the two were isolated, the DP Tour gave Wu Ashun the right to participate in category 3a for 8 matches, and Li Haotong had 4 games, starting from the beginning of 2022. After these matches, the two people's Dubai competition points will be combined with the 2021 points, and the total score will be counted, and a "Reshuffle" will be carried out - compared to the overall ranking of last year's Dubai competition to determine the final entry order of the two in the remaining events of the 2022 season!
Wu Ashun participated in the Tokyo Olympics and missed many European tours last year
That is to say, category 16c is only the worst result faced by Wu and Li. If the two seize the opportunity to accumulate high scores through a few opportunities in category 3a, it is entirely possible to advance the entry order to category 10, or even further ahead, and then ensure the right to join more events and ensure more opportunities to earn points.
Ah Shun had already landed, and HaoTong needed to grasp it
In fact, Wu Ashun has already seized the opportunity! The 12th place in the Abu Dhabi Championship has earned him a generous 116.1 Dubai race points – plus last year's 282.4 points, the Fujian star has now accumulated 398.5 points – which is already higher than the 121st place in the DP Tour "card" threshold last year and the 380.5 points of Scottish David Drysdale!
This indicates that Wu Ashun's members will at least reach the category 10 of the card-keeping players. And then, he has seven games left, including this week's Dubai Desert Classic, and will have a considerable opportunity to continue to push his picks upwards.
What is the use of higher entry picks? Among the DP Tour's annual schedules, 5 Rolex Series, three PGA Tour joint certification events, and the first ISPS Handa Championship held in Japan in May are all co-standing or small-line events, leaving a limited number of DP Tour members, and the higher the entry order, the more likely it is to qualify for these events. Especially for Li Haotong, in the case that the PGA TOUR Sony Open has accumulated a lot of Federal Cup points two weeks ago, whether he can seize the opportunity to join the PGA Tour in the European Tour, impact the temporary membership of the PGA Tour, and the entry order in the 16a category is probably far from enough...
Wu Ashun and Finnish golfer Sami Varmaki
With Wu Ashun's current foundation, and after 7 cumulative "re-qualifying", it means that he will most likely obtain the right to participate in the vast majority of DP World Tour in 2022.
Li Haotong's situation is relatively difficult. After the Abu Dhabi Championships, he was left with only three priority guarantees for Category 3a – this week's Dubai Desert Classic, next week's UAE Ras Al Khaimah Championship, and next next week's Ras Al Khaimah Classic. Due to his current Dubai accrual points (last season + this season), it is still only 86.9 points. There is still a gap of 293.6 points from Category 10, which was last season's Dresdale card guarantee threshold.
This means that in the next 3 games, Li Haotong needs to earn 97.87 points per game to be able to get out of the bottom of category 16 and be promoted to category 10 in the "re-ranking". The problem is that the next 3 opportunities that Li Haotong will face are of different weights.
The Dubai Desert Classic is the Rolex Series, with the overall score of the Dubai race being the highest 8000 in the year, however, the next two UAE races, the Ras Al Khaimah Championship and the Ras Al Khaimah Classic, are just ordinary events with a 2500 rating. This means that the same ranking, the corresponding score, is a world of difference.
The first 4 stops of the season were crucial for Li Haotong
If Li Haotong's goal is to average 97.87 points per game, it means that this week in Dubai, he needs to score at least 19th place; the next two UAE matches, he needs to play at least 6th place in each game! If he fails to qualify again this week, the UAE will face the extremely difficult task of reaching the top 3 in every game! Li Haotong was last among the top ten of the DP Tour, dating back to the tie for 8th place at the Welsh Open in August 2020. The next 3 consecutive weeks will be a great performance, which will be a huge test for the 26-year-old former Chinese brother.
In fact, Li Haotong, as the former champion of the Dubai Desert Classic in 2018, could have qualified for this competition, and it is reasonable to say that Dubai should not be counted in the 4 "member extension" guarantee events. However, the DP Tour did not consider his actual situation, resulting in Li Haotong only having to face the choice of a battle against the water. In order to prepare for these 3 games, Li Haotong also gave up the $5 million season opener of the Asian Tour next week, the sponsor wild card of the Saudi International, to concentrate on the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, which has a total prize money of only $2 million, in order to have a very limited opportunity to improve his participation in the ranking when the "re-qualifying" comes in 3 weeks.
This year's performance is related to next year's rice bowl
Li Haotong and Wu Ashun's memberships for the 2021-22 season have been retained, but for the 2022-23 season, which is next year's DP World Tour, do they also have a participation card?
The DP Tour finished 121st last season
According to the regulations, the "bao card" life and death line of the DP Tour is the top 110 in the Dubai competition, but because many players play too few times every year, the actual threshold of the bao card will be adjusted every season. For example, in 2019, it was the top 115 (446.8 points); for example, last year, it was the 121st place, David Dresdale's 380.5 points.
The points accumulated by Li Haotong and Wu Ashun in each game will be included in the overall ranking of the Dubai competition. Currently, with two matches in the 2021-22 season, Wu Ashun is tied for 14th place with 116.1 points, and Bai Zhengkai, who qualified for the Joburg Open in South Africa last November, ranked 107th with 4 points. Li Haotong, who failed to qualify for one game, and Zhang Huilin, who is expected to start the DP Tour in March, have not yet earned points and failed to make the table.
From this week's Dubai Desert Classic to the DP World Tour Championship on November 20, the DP Tour will also play 43 matches, and the top 120 or so players in the Dubai competition at the end of the season will qualify for next season's Category 10 starters, that is, "Baoka" success.
"WuLi Group" has been fighting in Europe for many years (Photo/ Wu Ashun Weibo)
Please note that the points of Li Haotong and Wu Ashun last year will only be related to the "re-ranking" after the two after 4 and 8 games, and not with the "guarantee card". For eligibility for 2023, only Dubai points earned this year will be counted. At present, Wu Ashun, who scored 116.1 points, is of course in the best situation, and the pick in the 10th category will also ensure the most number of games. Li Haotong and Zhang Huilin and others need to seize the opportunity of limited future games and work harder.
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