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The Northern Irish golfer ventures into new territory by competing in India this week as he makes his comeback to competition for the first time since the prestigious team event.

As the Northern Irishman widens his competitive experience, the DP World Tour begins the closing stage of this year's Race to Dubai. McIlroy is in pole position to secure the season-long title for the fourth season running and seventh time overall.

There are only three additional tournaments following the Indian event; the subsequent week's Genesis tournament in South Korea - which concludes the second half of the tour calendar - and then the final two tournaments in the Arabian region.

These particular big money playoff tournaments in the UAE capital and the emirate are reserved for the top 70 and then leading fifty in the standings.

But for the likes of Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this week's field in the subcontinent, there is less pressure than you might imagine.

Comfortably outside the top 70, at first glance it would seem both require strong performances from their trip to the Delhi Golf Club to keep alive their campaigns. Yet, actually, they are guaranteed in advance of their places in Abu Dhabi and the final event.

This is due to a rarely discussed but practical loophole whereby members of Europe's Ryder Cup team are also deemed eligible for the upcoming closing tournaments.

The English golfer, who won the PGA Tour's play-offs with his stirring victory at the season-ending event in Georgia, sits ninety-fourth in the European tour's season-long table. The Irish champion, who sank the putt that retained the Ryder Cup, is 155th.

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

This could question the integrity of a play-off system, which by definition is intended to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this situation also illustrates practical considerations faced by the Wentworth-based DP World Tour.

The tour is reliant on major sponsors such as the title partner, who are also the title sponsors of this current tournament in the Asian nation. They need the top players at their premier tournaments to validate the investment, which amounts to millions of dollars.

The talented golfer has enjoyed one of his best seasons, highlighted by his maiden victory on American soil at East Lake just under eight weeks past.

Fleetwood represents one of the continent's elite players and, frankly, it would be unthinkable to stage the 2025 season finale without him.

Common sense trumps pure competition, even though the top-ranked player - a local resident - has saved his best performances for tournaments that do not qualify on his home tour.

Fleetwood has so far played only four DP World Tour events and been unable to place in the top 20 at any tournament; the Dubai Desert Classic, Scottish Open, flagship event or pro-am competition.

Major championships also contribute on the Race to Dubai and his sixteenth-place finish at the Open was his sole high finish in the major events. But on the US tour he achieved seven top-five finishes.

Fleetwood was also the team's highest contributor at the New York course last month. It would be absurd for him not to be taking his place with the tour's leading stars at the conclusion of the campaign.

Although in the past the PGA and European tours were fierce competitors they are now inextricably linked thanks to the cooperative partnership that underpins DP World Tour prize funds.

As the English golfer, recent champion of the Spanish Open, has moved into close pursuit as his nearest challenger at the top of the Race to Dubai, much of the interest for the remaining schedule will have an US focus.

The storyline will be shaped by the competition for ten spots on the American circuit for those who do not already have tour cards in the United States. The rising star, with three European victories, is assured of what is widely regarded as advancement to the US circuit.

The Lancashire golfer, who also guaranteed invites to the Masters and British Open with his Spanish success, is not in the tournament lineup but will mount a last effort to try to overtake the leader at the top of the standings.

And the English competitor, the man Penge defeated in the Madrid play-off, is one of four other Britons in the midst of the battle for a future US tour card.

Yorkshireman John Parry and the West Country pair of Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter also currently occupy spots that would provide a valuable opportunity for the coming season.

Some observers view this development as evidence that the European circuit is now nothing more than a feeder for the larger circuit on the American continent.

However the organization argue it is a vital mechanism that underpins their schedule, a essential and enticing feature that optimizes playing opportunities for its participants.

Certainly this is the time of the year where the realities and compromises of men's professional golf seem at their most evident.