Laurie Canter will head to the DP World Tour Play-Offs in a strong position to secure dual membership on the PGA TOUR after a brilliant finish at the Genesis Championship.
The Englishman holed a remarkable 100-foot eagle putt from short of the 18th green to card a closing four-under-par 67 and help him finish in a tie for second at Woo Jeong Hills on Sunday.
As a result, the 35-year-old climbed five places to ninth on the Race to Dubai Rankings and is now in possession of the sixth card of the ten on offer via the DP World Tour’s season-long standings.
Canter enjoyed a strong start to the year, winning his second DP World Tour title in Bahrain in February and missing out on further silverware a month later in a play-off defeat in South Africa.
Having climbed into the top ten in the Rankings for the first time with a top three finish at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Canter fell outside that mark for the first time ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, before a missed cut in Spain earlier this month followed.
"We play such a frustrating game and I feel like at the beginning of the year I felt like I had a lot of momentum and had it on a piece of string and [since] then it has been hard work," he said.
"I have felt like I am paddling upstream for six to eight months.
"I fell out of the PGA TOUR card race this week so that was on my mind. I wanted to go to the Play-Offs and feel like I am not playing with a gun to my head totally, I can go out and embrace the chance to go and get one of those cards."
While his place at the DP World Tour Play-Offs had long since been guaranteed, he was determined to ensure he arrived at the season-ending events in the Middle East with some momentum and not needing to force the issue in his bid to earn playing status stateside.
Reflecting further on the impact of his unlikely closing eagle at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, he added: "There was a lot of tension, it is quite a tense golf course as well because there is a lot of trouble lurking that is a bit innocuous. The greens are really tricky.
"Like all golfers experience, [it was a release] of a lot of frustration. To hole that putt is such a hallelujah thing.
"If I do that again in my life I’ll be amazed. It was great."
As a result of Canter's rise up the Rankings, Martin Couvra fell to 14th after finishing in a tie for 60th and the Frenchman is now on the outside looking in in the race to earn dual membership.
The DP World Tour season continues next week at Yas Links with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, with the top 70 available players on the Rankings along with any exempt Ryder Cup players in addition teeing it up.
Who is in line for dual membership on the PGA TOUR in 2026?
| Player | Race to Dubai Position | Race to Dubai Points |
|---|---|---|
| Marco Penge | 2 | 3,691.24 |
| Kristoffer Reitan | 4 | 2,553.05 |
| Adrien Saddier | 5 | 2,465.83 |
| John Parry | 7 | 2,319.33 |
| Alex Noren | 8 | 2,302.00 |
| Laurie Canter | 9 | 2,240.40 |
| Haotong Li | 10 | 2,130.22 |
| Dan Brown | 11 | 1,992.04 |
| Keita Nakajima | 12 | 1,949.08 |
| Jordan Smith | 13 | 1,931.52 |
