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The Northern Irish golfer breaks new ground by playing in India this week as he returns to action for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

While the golf superstar expands his competitive experience, the DP World Tour begins the closing stage of this year's Race to Dubai. The world-class golfer is in pole position to secure the annual championship for the fourth consecutive year and seventh occasion in total.

There are only three additional tournaments after the India Championship; the following week's Genesis Championship in Korean venue - which wraps up the second half of the schedule - and then the last two competitions in the Arabian region.

These high-stakes playoff tournaments in the UAE capital and Dubai are reserved for the leading seventy and then top 50 in the standings.

But for the likes of Fleetwood and Lowry, who are also in this week's field in the subcontinent, there is reduced stress than you might imagine.

Comfortably below the seventieth position, at first glance it would seem both need high finishes from their trip to the Delhi Golf Club to extend their seasons. Yet, in fact, they are already assured of their positions in the UAE and the final event.

This results from a little publicised but pragmatic loophole whereby members of the European squad are also considered eligible for next month's closing tournaments.

Fleetwood, who triumphed in the PGA Tour's play-offs with his stirring victory at the season-ending event in Atlanta, lies ninety-fourth in the European tour's annual rankings. Lowry, who made the putt that secured the Ryder Cup, is 155th.

Additional squad members who can also qualify are Ludvig Aberg (seventy-second) and Sepp Straka (one hundred forty-seventh).

This could challenge the integrity of a play-off system, which by nature is intended to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this situation also illustrates realities faced by the headquartered DP World Tour.

They are dependent on major sponsors such as the title partner, who are also the naming sponsors of this week's event in the Asian nation. They need the biggest stars at their premier tournaments to justify the investment, which amounts to millions of dollars.

Fleetwood has experienced one of his best seasons, capped by his maiden victory on US territory at East Lake just under eight weeks past.

Fleetwood represents one of the continent's superstars and, honestly, it would be inconceivable to host the 2025 season finale without him.

Practical considerations overrides pure competition, even though the world number five - a Dubai resident - has saved his strongest showings for events that do not count on his domestic circuit.

The Englishman has so far played only four European tournaments and been unable to finish in the top 20 at any tournament; the Dubai Desert Classic, Scottish Open, flagship event or pro-am competition.

The majors also count on the season standings and his sixteenth-place finish at the Open was his sole high finish in the major events. But on the US tour he enjoyed seven placements in the top five.

The European star was also the team's highest contributor at the New York course last month. It seems absurd for him not to be participating alongside the circuit's top performers at the end of the campaign.

While in the previous era the American and European circuits were fierce competitors they are now inextricably linked thanks to the strategic alliance that underpins European tour financial rewards.

While Marco Penge, recent champion of the Open De Espana, has moved into McIlroy's wing mirrors as his nearest challenger at the summit of the Race to Dubai, much of the attention for the remaining schedule will have an US focus.

The storyline will be shaped by the competition for 10 places on the PGA Tour for those who do not currently possess playing rights in the United States. Penge, with three European victories, is assured of what is widely regarded as advancement to the US circuit.

The Lancashire golfer, who also secured invitations to the Masters and Open with his Spanish success, is not in the India field but will launch a last effort to try to overhaul McIlroy at the top of the standings.

Meanwhile the English competitor, the man Penge defeated in the Madrid play-off, is one of four other Britons in the thick of the battle for a future US tour card.

Yorkshireman John Parry and the West Country pair of Smith and Laurie Canter also currently occupy spots that would provide a golden ticket for next year.

Some observers view this development as evidence that the European circuit is now nothing more than a development tour for the larger circuit on the American continent.

But the DP World Tour maintain it is a vital mechanism that underpins their schedule, a essential and attractive feature that optimizes playing opportunities for its members.

Undoubtedly this is the season period where the realities and compromises of men's professional golf seem at their clearest display.