For five DP World Tour members, this week’s BMW PGA Championship represents a first experience of the Rolex Series and a benchmark in their progress.
At Wentworth Club, Angel Ayora, Kazuma Kobori, Oliver Lindell, Brandon Robinson Thompson and Ben Schmidt will contest one of the DP World Tour’s elevated events on the Race to Dubai.
All five are in their rookie campaigns on the DP World Tour, with Ayora, Lindell and Robinson Thompson graduates of the HotelPlanner Tour, Kobori a beneficiary of the pathways via other global Tours and Schmidt earning his card for 2025 through the Qualifying School.
Having started the season without a category that would guarantee inclusion at Rolex Series events, their spot at one of the founding events on the DP World Tour is a sign of the impression they have made so far this year.
Here, we tell the tale of their seasons so far and hear from each player ahead of teeing it up in one of the best fields annually on the DP World Tour.
Angel Ayora
Age: 20
Race to Dubai Ranking: 29
Official World Golf Ranking: 171
The Spaniard, who turned professional after playing in the Eisenhower Trophy in 2023, enjoyed a stellar debut campaign on the HotelPlanner Tour last year, winning his first title in the paid ranks at the Rosa Challenge Tour. A further six top tens - including a tie for second at the Grand Final - across the year saw him finish fourth on the Road to Mallorca Rankings to seal his card. Managed by Javier Ballesteros, the son of Seve Ballesteros, he has since made 23 starts in his rookie DP World Tour season, making 19 cuts and accumulating five top tens. The latest of those came at the Amgen Irish Open last week, lifting him inside the top 30 on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
In his own words...
I am very happy. It is my first big tournament so I am very happy and excited to be here. To be here, playing with these players, having started the year with a HotelPlanner Tour category is very good. You need to learn to be pretty patient because it is difficult to always be playing well. It is a difficult sport, you are playing against a lot of good players. It is not going to be possible to always play well every week. You need to accept that there are going to be good and bad moments and deal with them. My big goal at the start of the year was to get a PGA TOUR card. I am in the mix, and while it is a difficult goal I have the chance to achieve it. Being patient is key, and we will see what happens. Yesterday was my first time playing here. I have seen this tournament on the TV before, and I watched the play-off last year on my phone. I was in a tournament on the HotelPlanner Tour and we were watching on my phone. It is very cool to now be in a tournament that I watched on TV, alongside players like Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel.
Kazuma Kobori
Age: 23
Race to Dubai Ranking: 28
Official World Golf Ranking: 158
The New Zealander earned his DP World Tour card for 2025 by winning the 2023/24 Challenger PGA TOUR of Australasia Order of Merit, claiming three titles in the space of four weeks. Like Ayora, he only turned professional in late 2023 but is another making quick strides. Across his 22 starts on the 2025 Race to Dubai, he has three top tens with a closing 65 helping him to finish in a tie for second at last month's Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo earlier on in the Back 9. Add a solo third-place finish at the BMW International Open in July and the 23-year-old knows he will be competing at the season-ending DP World Tour Play-Offs.
In his own words...
I was hitting balls next to Ludvig [Åberg] today [Wednesday]. That’s a guy that I’ve been watching on the TV for the last couple of years or so. It’s pretty surreal. It’s awesome to be here. This week just wasn’t on my schedule at the start of the year. I played well at The Belfry to come second and that pretty much locked up my spot for here. It’s an opportunity I didn’t think I’d have but I’m hoping to make the most of it. I watched Foxy (Ryan Fox) play and win here in 2023 on YouTube. My game is completely different to his, but I’ve used that as a bit of homework to prepare for what this course is all about. Like, the 17th looked crazy, and it was crazy to play in real life! I played Foxy this week and I’ve just been following his lead. It's a strong, tough course. Foxy was saying it is usually firmer but it is quite soft so the ball is not running as much on the downwhill holes, leaving longer shots in. The greens are quite small too so it will be a good test. It's a great opportunity for me to find out how I compare with some of the Major winners, PGA TOUR players who are playing here this week. It's a good benchmark.
Oliver Lindell
Age: 26
Race to Dubai Ranking: 37
Official World Golf Ranking: 177
After dominating junior golf in his homeland, Finn Lindell made serene progress into the senior game, topping the ECCO Tour Rankings and finishing second on the Nordic Golf League Rankings in 2016 to earn his place on the HotelPlanner Tour. Recorded six top tens in his rookie season but only five in the next six years before enjoying a breakout in 2024. After a slow start to the season, he finished second at the Danish Golf Challenge and later registered eight consecutive top tens and four consecutive top fives including two runner-up finishes. After making the cut in each of his first five DP World Tour starts this season, Lindell has shown his potential at this level in recent weeks with a third top tens in his last four starts coming at last week's Amgen Irish Open.
In his own words...
I am really happy. I had been checking [what I needed to do] at the Omega European Masters. I saw [Angel] Ayora up there and needed to beat him by one shot but couldn’t do it there and then knew a good finish last week in Ireland would be enough. Now we’re here. It’s a really big thing. I knew when the schedule first came out that there would be weeks off during the Rolex Series. I know it is really important to get into these events. I am really looking forward to playing. I got my first Major start at The Open, the Irish Open last week was a big event with bigger names. I have played pretty well when there have been bigger names at the tournament so I think I am enjoying it.
Brandon Robinson Thompson
Age: 33
Race to Dubai Ranking: 47
Official World Golf Ranking: 224
A professional since 2017, he played on several tours on the international stage but has found his stride over the past couple of years and is relishing the challenge on Golf’s Global Tour. With Major Championship experience, he was perhaps better equipped than most for the step up but has certainly made an impression in his rookie season. A course-record 61 in the first round of the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship provided the springboard for a strong spell in the desert as he recorded back-to-back top tens during the International Swing. Another followed in Johannesburg, before back-to-back top 20s in Singapore and India highlighted his ability to perform in varying conditions. He has since finished fourth at the Turkish Airlines Open and progressed through qualifying to compete at the U.S. Open for the first time. Firmly in the mix to qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
In his own words...
Playing in such a huge event is amazing for me. On home soil, on the Rolex Series at Wentworth Club and it’s the BMW PGA. It’s the very first tournament I ever attended as a kid. I have so many memories from watching some of my idols like Ernie Els, Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Pádraig Harrington. When I watched these guys as a kid, I never would have imagined coming full circle. Yesterday [Monday], I warmed up next to Justin Rose. It’s an amazing feeling. I am grateful and excited to be here. It just gives me a little bit of confidence and also a bit of gratitude and just knowing that, OK, I've actually played quite well so far, and I've actually played my way into this event for this year, so there’s a little bit of pride there. I've played in The Open, in the U.S. Open and to me this is almost comparable, it's almost there with the level of fans, the history of the tournament itself and just sort of a personal feeling towards the event. I definitely feel a level of progress getting into this event and being able to compete with some of the best players in the world.
Ben Schmidt
Age: 23
Race to Dubai Ranking: 64
Official World Golf Ranking: 311
Touted as one of England’s brightest golfing prospects, having won the Brabazon Trophy at 16, Schmidt earned his DP World Tour card for this season through the Qualifying School last year. A tie for fifth at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters signalled his ability to compete at the top end of a leaderboard on the DP World Tour, but the 23-year-old has had to be patient. A second top five came at the Danish Golf Championship where he finished third, and he is already safe in the knowledge another year on the DP World Tour awaits in 2026.
In his own words...
This year has been a long year. It’s been pretty tough, but I am really happy that I am here this week. Being on a Q-School category is a hard year, which a lot of lads will know. Starting this year, I had a good few goals that I wanted to reach. Getting here this week and being able to play this tournament was one of them top goals. This [playing at the BMW PGA Championship] was definitely one of them. I am really happy that I have managed to achieve that. It’s funny because I played the golf course for the first time yesterday [Tuesday]. But I reckon I recognised every single hole. I have been to this even quite a few times with family. It’s just such a great event, the atmosphere, crowds and everything that is going on makes for a special week. Playing the course was a surreal moment, seeing the course from the other side. It was dreamy. I was stood there five or six years ago watching players thinking one day it would be unbelievable to play that event. This season I have tried to spend time with a few of the older lads that are more experienced. I played with Richard Mansell and Connor Syme, two lads that have played Rolex Series events before and this course before. There were quite a few holes that I was trying to get some tips from them. I could ask ten questions and while I may only take one answer to help me, that might just be the thing that helps me during a week.
