Ahead of a new season dawning on the DP World Tour next week, Jacob Skov Olesen – the leading performer from last year’s cohort of Qualifying School graduates – has a simple message for the Class of 2025: Take every opportunity you can.
The Dane capped an excellent debut professional campaign by reaching the DP World Tour Championship, finishing in a tie for 11th to finish 41st on the season-long Race to Dubai Rankings.
At the season finale, Olesen, who turned professional after coming through Final Stage qualifying 12 months ago, made his 28th appearance on the 2025 Race to Dubai campaign and second on the Rolex Series in as many weeks.
Asked to offer advice to those setting out on the DP World Tour for the first time during the upcoming Opening Swing, he said: “I’d say play anything you can. If there’s a qualifier for a DP [World] event, go play it.
“Even if it is a far travel, go play it. Even if your game is not feeling good, go play it.
“It’s not always when you’ve been at home, you feel like you’re flushing it and everything’s feeling good, that you go out and perform. Sometimes it also happens after a week where you miss the cut by eight shots.
“So, I‘d say grind, take every opportunity and try and play into every opportunity you get.”
Olesen joined fellow 2024 Qualifying School graduates Ben Schmidt of England and the United States’ Ryggs Johnston in a limited field at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship – the opening event of the DP World Tour Play-Offs.
Between them, the trio made a combined 57 appearances and racked up eight top tens, with Johnston claiming a first DP World Tour title at the Australian Open in the second week of the campaign.
But it was only Olesen who made it through to the final event of the season at Jumeirah Golf Estates, qualifying among the top 50 on the Rankings to earn his spot in Dubai.
I still remember standing up at the range, trying to get autographs from every player in the field
With rounds of 68-72-66-69, he just missed out on a top ten but the result was good enough to see him climb to a career-high 157th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“It’s a tournament I went to as a little kid back in 2011 or 2012,” he told the DP World Tour’s Green Room.
“Kind of one of my first real memories from a golf tournament is here [Dubai].
“I still remember standing up at the range, trying to get autographs from every player in the field.
“I remember getting a picture with Luke Donald and Thorbjørn Olesen…”
Here, we breakdown the seasons of Olesen, Schmidt and Johnston.
Jacob Skov Olesen
• Age: 26
• Final 2025 Race to Dubai Ranking: 41
• Official World Golf Ranking: 157
The Dane missed the cut on his debut as a professional at the BMW Australian PGA Championship, but just a few weeks later he was in title contention at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open before settling for a tie of ninth. While the 2024 Amateur Championship winner briefly fell outside the top 100 on the Race to Dubai Rankings after a missed cut in Qatar, he was back on the rise after top tens at the Joburg Open and Volvo China Open respectively. While he fell away after initially sitting in a five-way tie for the lead after the opening day at The Open Championship in July, he finished in a season's best tie for third at the Nexo Championship in Scotland a few weeks later as he underlined his ability to contend on links layouts. That result saw him break back into the top 50 on the season-long standings. A sixth top ten of the season at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship eased any concerns over qualifying for the start of the DP World Tour Play-Offs as one of the leading 70 players, before he maintained his top-50 status with a tie for 23rd on his Rolex Series debut in Abu Dhabi. His campaign ended on a high as he finished in a tie for 11th over the Earth course to climb from 48th to 41st on the Rankings.
Ben Schmidt
• Age: 23
• Final 2025 Race to Dubai Ranking: 69
• Official World Golf Ranking: 301
The Englishman was playing a combination of HotelPlanner Tour and Alps Tour events in 2024 but ended the year by competing on the DP World Tour. Finished in a tie for fifth in Qatar in February, but struggled to build on the result as he missed six cuts in a run of seven events from the Turkish Airlines Open through to the BMW International Open. After a short summer break in the schedule, he returned to action with a tie for 13th at Trump International Scotland, building on that with a solo third-place finish in Denmark a week later to effectively secure his membership for another season. A first hole in one on the DP World Tour soon followed at The Belfry. As a result of his performances during the Closing Swing, he earned himself a Rolex Series debut at the BMW PGA Championship. A tie for 11th at the DP World India Championship saw him climb into the top 70 on the Rankings, maintaining that at the Genesis Championship to book his trip to Yas Links for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He would finish 68th in a field of 74 players at the penultimate event of the campaign, ending his hopes of being among the leading 50 on the Race to Dubai. But having started the season 673rd in the world and to now be just outside the top 300, he can look back on a big step forward in his career.
Ryggs Johnston
• Age: 25
• Final 2025 Race to Dubai Ranking: 72
• Official World Golf Ranking: 401
It didn't take long for the American to make his mark on the DP World Tour, winning on just his second start at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open. The success was made all the sweeter as the then World Number 954 secured exempt status for the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. He would struggle to build on the career-changing triumph, however, and his best result since the start of the new year was a tie for 26th at the BMW International Open in Germany. Aside from his victory, his highlight was playing all four rounds of his Major Championship debut in Northern Ireland. Despite finishing outside the top 70 on the Rankings, he was among the leading 70 available players and thus earned his place at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
In a sign of just how well Olesen, Schmidt and Johnston performed in their rookie seasons on the DP World Tour, the other 18 Qualifying School graduates from last year finished outside the top 115 on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
However, three of those - Davis Bryant, Gregorio De Leo and Benjamin Follett-Smith - have since regained their Category 18 membership playing rights at Final Stage last week in Spain.
And for those who didn't, all is not lost, with some form of playing status still being available on the DP World Tour and several qualifying for HotelPlanner Tour membership.
