It doesn’t look a while lot different from the year of tournament golf that will conclude with the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai this week. Which is no real surprise. Given the continuing uncertainty surrounding the current talks on the future of professional golf, next year was always going to see the 52-year old tour in something of a holding pattern.
So it is that the 2026 season on what used to be called the European Tour is likely to own at least the potential to be a lot more interesting and even exciting. For now, however, we must make do with some minor tweaks, as well as 42 events in a minimum of 26 different countries.
Returning after six years away, the Turkish Open will take place in the week immediately preceding the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, a date guaranteeing a field that will surely lack any of the Old World circuit’s well-known players. The Austrian Open also makes a return during the three-week gap between the PGA and the US Open at Oakmont. And the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, missing this season, is also back, held after the upcoming Australian PGA and Australian Open championships Down Under.
Happily, too, the clash of dates between the Aussie Open and the South African Open has been eliminated. Given their long and distinguished histories, both events deserved better than to be so diluted. On a more positive note, the French Open is returning to St Nom La Breteche just outside Paris for the first time since Seve Ballesteros won there in 1982. And the K Club, venue for the 2006 Ryder Cup, will host its second Irish Open.
What hasn’t changed is the packaging of the 12-month tour into various sections. So it is that five “Global Swings” are followed by the “Back 9” and, as this year, a pair of playoff events in the Middle East.
The Opening Swing starts next week and runs until Christmas. The 10-event International Swing contains events in the Middle East and Africa; the Asian Swing (perversely including the Masters) takes us to the end of April. The European Swing, which includes the PGA Championship and US Open, ends with the BMW International Open in early July. The Closing Swing starts with the Scottish Open and takes in two co-sanctioned PGA Tour events, the ISCO Championship and the Barracuda Championship. Then the Back 9, armed with the Ryder Cup and the tour’s so-called “flagship event”, the BMW PGA Championship, completes the pre-playoff roster.
“Our 2025 schedule once again demonstrates and celebrates the truly global nature of the DP World Tour,” said chief executive Guy Kinnings. “The introduction of the Global Swings in the current season has given us a strong, clear narrative that showcases the diversity of our membership and the places and cultures we visit. As we have seen in recent weeks with great success in terms of attendance, viewing figures and compelling drama, the Back 9 provides a real opportunity for our tour internationally as we build momentum into the playoffs.”
The full schedule is below:
