The dawn of a new season brings with it new players, but it also sees the return of familiar figures on the DP World Tour.
At this week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship, there are several players who are well versed in competing on golf’s global Tour making welcome returns.
In some cases, these are players who have regained playing rights through graduating from the HotelPlanner while for others it has come via DP World Tour Qualifying School.
Here, we hear from seven returning faces as the season gets under way at Royal Queensland GC in Brisbane.
Renato Paratore
Country: Italy
Age: 28
Earned his first DP World Tour title at the Nordea Masters in 2017, before adding a second in the Covid-affected 2020 campaign at the Betfred British Masters.
Since then, he has endured more heartbreak than most, losing his full playing privileges in 2022 by one spot, before weeks later finishing as the first man on the wrong side of the line again at Qualifying School.
The following year he made it through Qualifying School but finished 131st on the Race to Dubai. As a result, Paratore spent 2025 back on the HotelPlanner Tour, where he won three times last season to secure automatic promotion.
"It’s been a really great year. It was good to finally win again after my last win in 2020. So, it’s been a really good feeling and to be back here I am really proud and happy. I have played in Australia before. For me they are some of the best courses in the world, always in really good shape. The greens are really fast and I like to play here."
Class of ‘25 set for DP World Tour season-opener in Australia 👇
— HotelPlanner Tour (@HPlanner_Tour) November 25, 2025
Good luck to the 13 graduates teeing it up at Royal Queensland Golf Club. #HotelPlannerTour | #AusPGA
David Law
Country: Scotland
Age: 34
A graduate of the HotelPlanner Tour in 2018, he won in his rookie season on the DP World Tour at the ISPS HANDA Vic Open in 2019.
After losing his playing rights at the end of 2024, he won twice on his return to the HotelPlanner Tour to secure an immediate return to the DP World Tour.
"It's amazing to be back. I lost my card at the end of 2024 which was obviously disappointing and then I didn’t get it back at Q-School as well which was disappointing. But I was really encouraged by how determined I was and how much I wanted to come back and play on the DP World Tour. It was nice to be back on the HotelPlanner Tour as well, in a strange kind of way. I went back to a few venues that I played when I was last there in 2018. To be honest, I thought it was quite good for game. To be up there competing at the right side of golf tournaments was good for me. I am delighted to be back, enjoyed my time back there again but it is nice to be back here."
James Morrison
Country: England
Age: 40
After 15 years on the DP World Tour, 2025 proved his first season without full playing rights since graduating from the HotelPlanner Tour in 2009.
In that time he won twice, in Portugal and Spain respectively.
But having tested out life after golf by doing some broadcast work earlier this year, he ended a ten-year wait for a victory at the Blot Play9 on the HotelPlanner Tour, before winning the Rolex Grand Final title with his son on his bag to graduate back onto the DP World Tour in emotional fashion.
"It is still a bit surreal. It was an interesting year that was capped off with a good win at the end."
On seeing familiar faces, he added: "Haven’t missed them, put it that way! I thought I’d never see them again. No, it’s great to see people that you haven’t seen for a long time. Especially all the Aussie players that haven’t played on Tour for a long time, like Marcus Fraser and Wade Ormsby. It’s a great place to come and play and start the season."
Eddie Pepperell
Country: England
Age: 34
A two-time winner on the DP World Tour since graduating from the HotelPlanner Tour in 2012, Pepperell was on of the biggest stories that came out of DP World Tour Qualifying School last month.
While he was as high as 32 in the world in 2018, recent seasons in particular have proven tough and he lost his full playing rights on the DP World Tour in 2024 but showed his class to come through two stages of Qualifying School earlier this month in Spain.
"It feels nice. The response was surprising and heartwarming, I guess, and nice to feel and experience. I’m pleased to be back. It’s been a challenging year on the course for me at times. Whether it is the best thing for me next year time will tell but it’s something that I am certainly looking forward to. I have done here to once a couple of years ago – it was Sydney back then. I have never been to Melbourne, so I am quite looking forward to next week. But Brisbane is great, having a nice time. Australia is a wonderful country, so it really is a pleasure to be here."
Four birdies in his closing four holes 🙌
— DP World Tour Q-School (@DPWTQSchool) November 12, 2025
An emotional Eddie Pepperell reacts to securing a dramatic return to the @DPWorldTour. #DPWTQSchool pic.twitter.com/zqYMnPoY5F
Aaron Cockerill
Country: Canada
Age: 33
A graduate of Qualifying School in 2019, he made the DP World Tour Championship for the first time in 2024 but found the going tougher this year.
With just one top ten to his name on the 2025 Race to Dubai Rankings, he narrowly missed out on retaining his playing rights after the Genesis Championship in South Korea but showed his ability to finish in a tie for second on his return to Q-School at INFINITUM.
"When I was wrapping up in Korea, I didn’t even know when or where Q-School was. I hadn’t though that far ahead. I had to make plans and I'm happy to have gone and done so well and have a good card for this year. It feels like I was gone and then I’m back in the space of not a lot of time. I haven’t been to Australia in a few years and I’m looking forward to it. The people are amazing, the city is amazing, the golf course is good. It feels a little like Canada, the people are awesome and, yeah, I’m excited for it."
Shubhankar Sharma
Country: India
Age: 29
Sharma became the youngest Indian player to win on the DP World Tour when he claimed the Joburg Open title in December 2017, aged just 21.
When he lifted a second trophy two months later in Malaysia, everything pointed towards him kicking on, and while he has since represented his country at the Olympic Games in 2024, he had to come through two stages of this year's Qualifying School to play his way back onto the DP World Tour.
"I’m really happy to be back. It was like a job interview [at] Q School. I had just had a tough season, so I was really happy to get over the line, especially the way I did. I had to go through Second Stage and Final Stage. It was a special week. I was really happy. Last week I was off back home, and it was good to be back celebrating it with the family."
Matthew Baldwin
Country: England
Age: 39
Having first graduated from the HotelPlanner Tour in 2011, he marked his 200th DP World Tour start with victory at the SDC Championship in South Africa in 2023.
He struggled for form however in 2025, finishing 168th on the Race to Dubai Rankings but quickly regained them through Qualifying School earlier this month in Spain, finishing birdie-eagle to secure his Category 18 playing rights for the 2026 season.
"It’s very good to be back. It’s been a strange 2025 season and then to finish off the way I did, especially the last two holes alone was strangely worth it. I learned so much from two holes of golf. Hopefully now going forward I can push on and not got back there [Q-School]."
