Aberdonian finishes 99th in Race to Dubai Ranking and is now ready to enjoy some much-needed family time
David Law has spoken about feeling “a lot of pride” after retaining his DP World Tour card following an anxious weekend as Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa and American Sean Crocker joined the Aberdonian in the safety zone after the Genesis Championship in Korea.
Despite having to sweat for a couple of days after missing the cut by a shot in the final regular event of the season, it was mission accomplished for Law as the 35-year-old finished the campaign in the all-important top 100 in the Race to Dubai Ranking.
Having gone into the $4 million event at at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club in Cheonan sitting 97th after making eight cuts in a row at the business end of the season, Law slipped two spots as Katsuragawa, with his second tour triumph, and Italian Matteo Manassero, by staying in 98th spot, jumped above him.
Given the fact he’d felt compelled to play 11 weeks in a row to try and retain his seat at the top table, it was a fantastic effort by Law as he joined Calum Hill, Grant Forrest, Ewen Ferguson, Bob MacIntyre and Scott Jamieson in securing a full card for the 2027 campaign, with Connor Syme in the same position through an exemption from his KLM Open win last year even though he ended up 146th in the standings.
“Obviously a huge relief,” Law, who won the ISPS HANDA Vic Open in 2019 in just his fifth start on the DP World Tour then lost his card at the end of 2024 before regaining it last year through the HotelPlanner Tour, told The Scotsman of how he felt after a nervous couple of days.
“Yeah, a lot of pride. I feel like I dug in really well, especially the last third of the season, when there were quite a few weeks where I needed big finishes to make the cut. I didn’t really feel I had my A game all season, to be honest, and, at the end there, it was just a case of grafting away and trying to get points on the board.”
In 30 events, the former Scottish Amateur champion made 19 cuts only to be left fighting for survival after a tie for ninth in the Hero Indian Open back in March was his sole top-ten finish. “Obviously in those last nine events or whatever, the points are so high and, even in weeks where you finished 30th or 40th, you made up ground in the Order of Merit,” he added.
“There were a few points where I kept momentum. For instance, I birdied the last three holes at Crans-sur-Sierre (in the Omega European Masters) to make the cut on the mark and I holed an eagle putt on the last hole in the Dunhill. Either of those two moments were enough to keep my card in the end.
“To make nine the cut in nine out of the last 11 events was great, especially when I didn’t have my best stuff. Yeah, 11 weeks on the bounce has been a lot and, in that situation, mentally it was proper grind.”
While the likes of Cameron Adam and Daniel Young are heading to Spain for the Second Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School after they finished outside the card cut-off zone, Law is relishing the chance to enjoy some family time before the start of the new season in Australia at the end of next month.
“I’m really looking forward to getting home and spending four weeks as a husband and dad rather than my mind just being on trying to keep my job and only seeing the kids for a night every week,” he said of wife Natasha and their three kids - Penelope, Josh and Florence. “Yeah, it’s not been fair on them, really. Florence is only six months and I’ve certainly been away from home for the majority of the last three months, so I have missed a lot of her short life, I guess.”
Having started the week sitting 106th on the points list, Katsuragawa not only secured his card in style by landing a two-shot success in Korea to jump to 28th but also earned a spot in the season-ending Play-Offs in the Middle East. “I'm very happy because to play on the DP World Tour is something I need in my life,” admitted the 28-year-old, who claimed his maiden win two years ago on home soil in the ISPS HANDA Championship.
Former BMW PGA champion Manassero held on to his status by joining Law in just staying inside the cut-off line, with Crocker knocking Eddie Pepperell out of the 100th spot after finishing with four straight birdies to storm home in six under and finish joint-34th.
“Emotional I guess,” admitted Crocker, a winner on Scottish soil in the 2022 Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews. “A lot was going through my mind on that golf course today. I needed to play well and that was probably one of the better back nines I've ever played with circumstances.”
Scott Jamieson, the sole Scot to make the cut, signed off with a 67 - his best effort of the week - to finish joint-22nd yet the Nexo Championship winner will head into the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship - the first of the Play-Off events - having slipped two spots to 59th in the rankings and needing to be in the top 50 to make the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
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