A drama-filled Sunday in Korea saw just three players - Junghwan Lee, Nacho Elvira and Andrea Pavan - jump inside the top 70 on the Race to Dubai Rankings and earn their places in the first event of the DP World Tour Play Offs: the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
On a day where jubilation and heartache played equal parts as players fought to retain their Tour cards or make it through to the DP World Tour Play-Offs, miracle moments and agonisingly close finishes told the tale of two sides.
For those on the bubble for the Play-Offs, there was a tight race to see who could finish inside the top 70.
Who made it: The DP World Tour Play-Offs
On the right side of the line starting the week, Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello, England’s Ben Schmidt and South Africa’s Richard Sterne guaranteed their places, while China’s Wenyi Ding, Frenchman Jeong Weon Ko and American Ryggs Johnston all fell out of the top 70.
Korea's Junghwan Lee earned his spot and a trophy all in the same day with victory in front of home fans at the Genesis Championship, with Nacho Elvira and Andrea Pavan also booking their place in the field for Abu Dhabi – the first event of the Play-Offs.
Here, we take a closer look at how Elvira, Lee, Pavan and Cabrera Bello made it happen.
Nacho Elvira
Elvira’s bogey-bogey finish to end his week in second place was undoubtedly devastating, but the silver lining to his best result all season is a place in the DP World Tour Play-Offs. Moving up 46 places to 46th on the Race to Dubai Rankings, Elvira has now secured his place in Abu Dhabi and currently sits in position to also make it to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship for a third consecutive year.
The Spaniard began the final day in a tie for the lead alongside Mikael Lindberg, but he was unable to keep pace with Lee during the difficult conditions as the Korean raced to an incredible seven-under 64. Elvira dropped his first shot of the final round at the 11th just as the downpour relented, but despite a birdie at the 15th, Elvira ended the day with two dropped shots on his two final holes to finish three behind the champion.
"I'm a little bit devastated, but I'm happy" Elvira told the DP World Tour Green Room. "I'll probably see this different in a couple of hours, or in a couple of days or in a couple of weeks, but at the moment you know, a little bit sad.
"Obviously the disappointment is going to last a little bit, it's going to hurt. But obviously like I said I will look in a couple of hours or in a couple of days and there's a lot more positives, there's many positives I talked to my caddie that we will have going forward. It's good that I'm in Abu Dhabi, I'll keep pushing to get into Dubai, but there's many things we'll work out going forward."
Junghwan Lee
Playing in just his sixth career start on the DP World Tour, Lee claimed his third professional victory and first DP World Tour win on Sunday with a best of the week seven-under 64.
The 34-year-old South Korean started the final round four shots behind joint leaders Lindberg and Elvira, but his challenge looked over before it began with a bogey at the second. Lee quickly bounced back in remarkable fashion, reeling off five straight birdies from the third. He began the back nine with another birdie at the tenth, adding another at the 14th and eventually seeing in a final birdie from inside three feet at the last to set the clubhouse target at 11 under par.
Without status on the Tour heading into the week, Lee's victory means he has now taken up membership, entering the Race to Dubai Rankings at 63rd and now eligible for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
"I really feeling like I'm dreaming," Lee said after his round.
"I really, really wanted to go to DP World Tour and I was actually working really hard towards that goal, but somehow I was coming up short a little bit - I was really making the effort - and now I have this really great opportunity. I'm just really grateful.
"I'll begin in Abu Dhabi, and to be on these courses that I've been watching on TV and being side by side playing with all these players that I've followed on TV, it just feels like a dream."
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Heading into the week at 70th on the Race to Dubai, the man that started the week on the cut-line finished in the same position to guarantee he'll be headed to Abu Dhabi - a tournament where he has a brilliant history.
Until 2024, Cabrera Bello had spent 15 consecutive seasons inside the top 100 on the Race to Dubai Rankings, but this year he retained Category 11 playing privileges through the career money list, having finished 127th on the 2024 Ranking. With that in the back of his mind, he needed a solid week on the golf course to maintain or improve that position, and did just that.
An opening round of 69 put him in a strong placing, but a disappointing 72 on Friday saw him slip back down the leaderboard in need of something bigger. Another 69 on Saturday gave him a chance, yet his position looked in potential jeopardy with a bogey on the second hole of his final round. Bouncing back quickly, Cabrera Bello holed an enormous 45 footer for birdie at the fifth, then all but tapped in for another gain at the next to move into the red. A final birdie at the 11th was enough to secure 14th place in the Championship, and with Lee taking up membership following his win, it was also enough to secure the final spot in the Play-Offs.
Now headed to Abu Dhabi, Cabrera Bello will be fighting to repeat past success as he aims to move into the top 50 and earn his way into the season finale DP World Tour Championship. The Spaniard was the runner-up when the championship in Abu Dhabi first moved to Yas Links in 2022, and then finished tied tenth in his most recent appearance the following year. In previous years, albeit at a different course, he had four other top tens, five further top 20s, and he has missed one cut in 15 appearances, which came ten years ago in 2015.
Andrea Pavan
With everything to play for on the final day, Andrea Pavan delivered one of the lowest rounds on Sunday to move from 29th place to fourth at the Genesis Championship.
The Italian had been one back heading into the weekend, but a disappointing third round 74 left him with an outside chance of making it to the Play-Offs. He began his day with a bogey but exceptional approach play led to five birdies in his next seven holes and propelled him up the leaderboard. He replied to a dropped shot at the tenth with another birdie at 11, with a final gain at the 14th from five feet helping him to a 66. His timely top ten - his second of the season - earned him 250 Race to Dubai points, and moved him from 82nd to 65th on the Race to Dubai.
Having regained status for the DP World Tour at the end of the 2023 season, the two-time DP World Tour winner will be headed to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship for the first time since finishing tie for 25th in 2022, with a chance to make it to the DP World Tour Championship for the first time since 2019.
