Card battles to the fore for Irish hopefuls

The week before the Ryder Cup… No PGA Tour, no Rory McIlroy, no Shane Lowry, the 24 players from both teams USA and Europe are preparing for next week. It all seems a bit dead.

But there is still plenty of jeopardy on the various tours for Irish players as hopefuls on both the DP World Tour and HotelPlanner Tour battle for status.

Five events remain on the DP World Tour before the two playoff events while just the Italian Open and two Chinese events are left before the HotelPlanner Tour Grand Final.

On the DP World Tour it’s getting very close to last chance saloon for Conor Purcell as he battles to retain his full status on Europe’s top tier.

The Portmarnock man is 155th on the Race to Dubai – amazingly just four places below Shane Lowry – but is well adrift of the top-114 which is the provisional cut off for players who will be guaranteed a day job on the DP World Tour in 2026.

After missing a great opportunity to earn big points at the Amgen Irish Open and sitting out Wentworth, Purcell returns to action at the French Open in Paris where he must start making positive strides.

Otherwise, he can retain a mix of DP World Tour and HotelPlanner Tour cards or head to winter’s Q-School where the card for the top tier is considerably weaker than what can be won via the HotelPlanner Tour.

Speaking of the HotelPlanner Tour. Having once had two Irish players ranked inside the top-20 on the Road to Mallorca, Liam Nolan and Max Kennedy might start looking over their shoulder at the top-45 mark for the Grand Final at Halloween.

Nolan has slipped from a height of fourth to 32nd while Kennedy is ranked 34th with both players out of form at the moment.

But opportunity knocks at the Italian Challenge where one good week can propel them back into the thick of DP World Tour card contention in their rookie campaigns as professionals.

Both players are guaranteed progression to the two big Chinese events next month while Robert Moran (121st), Dermot McElroy (104th) and Jonathan Caldwell (137th) need big moves in Italy.

Meanwhile, the top-70 will retain cards on the Ladies European Tour and Sara Byrne moved into 60th place on the Order of Merit via her maiden top-5 finish as a professional last week.

Anna Foster is 41st, Byrne 60th, Leona Maguire 68th, Wilson 91st, Canice Screene 139th and Olivia Mehaffey 175th while Lauren Walsh is 15th.