Ex-Ryder Cup player Peter Baker tells DP World Tour to stop 'sending 10 best players' to PGA Tour

Sam FrostSat, November 14, 2026 at 12:13 PM UTC

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Peter Baker has told the DP World Tour to stop awarding PGA Tour cards to its best 10 players -Credit:GETTY (GETTY)

Former Ryder Cup player Peter Baker has called on the DP World Tour to stop "sending 10 of our best players" to the PGA Tour.

The top 10 players in the Race to Dubai rankings who do not already own PGA Tour cards earn playing rights in the U.S. for the following season. Baker, a three-time winner on the European circuit, has bemoaned not only the talent drain but also the impact it has had on some players' careers.

Bob MacIntyre, Kristoffer Reitan and Ryan Fox are among the success stories from the arrangement, which is part of the Strategic Alliance between the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, but other players have struggled after moving Stateside and lost momentum.

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Baker, who played in the 1993 Ryder Cup, believes the arrangement is harming the DP World Tour, which he believes should try to stand on its own following the demise of LIV Golf.

"I certainly wouldn’t be sending 10 of our best players over to America every year to play there, I think that needs to be looked at," he told Golf Monthly. "Maybe give the opportunity to a few, maybe. I’ve never liked that. I know the reasons why but I’d like to see them get rid of that."

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"The fallout and the stats are remarkably bad. It has taken a lot of the guys a couple of years to get back to anything like before they went, so yeah it’s something to think about," Baker said on the initiative not working for everyone.

Baker believes the arrangement is harming the DP World Tour -Credit:Paul Devlin/Getty Images

"I personally would like to see them cut it off completely, but that’s probably being a bit selfish from a European point of view, as I guess the players want the opportunity to go. I certainly think ten is too many, for sure."

Ten players will earn PGA Tour cards at the conclusion of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday. Patrick Reed and Eugenio Chacarra are among those who have guaranteed a place on the PGA Tour next season.

But the arrangement is set to change in 2027 with the PGA Tour moving to a two-track system the following year. Rory McIlroy revealed in Abu Dhabi last week that there will be four cards up for grabs to play in the inaugural season of the lucrative Championship Series when it debuts in 2028.

There is also a break clause in the Strategic Alliance next year, which allows the tours to negotiate new terms or go their seperate ways.

"I thought five was a nice number," McIlroy said. "I think it'll probably be a little less than that. I'd say it'll probably be four, if I know what I'm talking about, which I usually do.

"Yeah, I think PGA Tour were sort of on three, European Tour were on five. I think they'll meet in the middle and I think it'll be four."

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