The Reason European Team Players Get Automatic Entry to Final DP World Tour Playoff Events

The Northern Irish golfer breaks new ground by playing in India this week as he makes his comeback to action for the initial occasion since the prestigious team event.

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

There are only three additional tournaments following the Indian event; the following week's Genesis tournament in South Korea - which concludes the 'Back Nine' phase of the tour calendar - and then the last two competitions in the Middle East.

These particular big money playoff tournaments in the UAE capital and Dubai are reserved for the leading seventy and then top 50 in the season rankings.

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

Sitting outside the top 70, at first glance it would appear both need strong performances from their trip to the Indian course to extend their campaigns. But, actually, they are already assured of their places in the UAE and Dubai.

This results from a rarely discussed but pragmatic exception whereby participants of the European squad are also considered qualified for the upcoming season finale events.

The English golfer, who triumphed in the PGA Tour's play-offs with his impressive victory at the season-ending event in Georgia, lies ninety-fourth in the continental circuit's annual rankings. Lowry, who sank the putt that retained the Ryder Cup, is 155th.

Additional squad members who can also qualify are Ludvig Aberg (seventy-second) and Sepp Straka (one hundred forty-seventh).

This might challenge the integrity of a play-off system, which by definition is intended to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this situation also demonstrates practical considerations faced by the Wentworth-based European circuit.

They are dependent on big backers such as DP World, who are also the title sponsors of this week's event in India. The tour requires the top players at their biggest events to validate the investment, which amounts to millions of dollars.

Fleetwood has enjoyed one of his most successful campaigns, capped by his first win on US territory at the Atlanta course just under eight weeks past.

Fleetwood represents one of European golf's elite players and, frankly, it would be inconceivable to host 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 domestic circuit.

The Englishman has to date played only four DP World Tour events and failed to place in the top 20 at any of them; the Middle Eastern event, Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship or Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Major championships also count on the Race to Dubai and his sixteenth-place finish at the Open was his only top 20 in the big four tournaments. However on the US tour he enjoyed seven top-five finishes.

Fleetwood was also Europe's top points scorer at Bethpage last month. It seems absurd for him not to be taking his place with the tour's leading stars at the conclusion of the season.

While in the previous era the American and European circuits were fierce competitors they are now inextricably linked thanks to the cooperative partnership that underpins European tour financial rewards.

As the English golfer, recent champion of the Spanish Open, has moved into McIlroy's wing mirrors as his closest rival at the summit of the season championship, much of the attention for the remaining schedule will have an American bias.

The storyline will be driven by the competition for 10 places on the American circuit for those who do not currently possess playing rights in the US. Penge, with three European victories, is assured of what is generally considered as 'promotion' to the US circuit.

The Lancashire golfer, who also guaranteed invites to the Augusta National and British Open with his Spanish success, is not in the India field but will launch a final push to try to overtake the leader at the peak of the rankings.

And Dan Brown, the man the champion beat in the Madrid play-off, is one of several British golfers in the midst of the battle for a future US tour card.

Yorkshireman John Parry and the Bath duo of Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter also presently hold spots that would provide a golden ticket for next year.

Some observers see this scenario as proof that the European circuit is now essentially a feeder for the larger circuit on the American continent.

However the organization maintain it is a vital mechanism that underpins their tour calendar, a necessary and attractive element that maximises competitive chances for its members.

Undoubtedly this is the time of the year where the practical aspects and compromises of men's professional golf seem at their clearest display.