Dubai, United Arab Emirates: New Zealander Ryan Fox and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune have booked their spots on the 2024 PGA Tour.
Fox and Hisatsune became the first Asia-Pacific golfers to benefit from the strategic partnership between the DP World Tour and PGA Tour when they earned their PGA Tour cards along with eight others through the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
“My stomach has been in knots playing these last few weeks, but knowing I’ve secured my status makes me extremely happy,” said 21-year-old Hisatsune. “This has only opened the door and it’s up to me to take advantage of the opportunity.”
In the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, Hisatsune finished tied 18th to seal the 10th and last available PGA Tour card for players not otherwise exempt.
Throughout the final day, he moved in and out of the Top-10 bracket and eventually finished 27 points ahead of Rasmus Hojgaard, whose twin brother Nicolai won the final tournament of the DP World Tour season by two strokes. Other players who earned dual memberships on the PGA Tour were Fox, Poland’s Adrian Meronk, Frenchmen Victor Perez and Matthieu Pavon, Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, Swede Alexander Bjork, Finland’s Sami Valimaki, Scotsman Robert MacIntyre and Spaniard Jorge Campillo.
Only two years ago, Hisatsune was playing on the Abema Tour, the secondary circuit in his home nation. He won three times then to secure playing rights on the Japan Golf Tour in 2022. At the end of last year he signed up for the DP World Tour Qualifying School and finished tied seventh.
It proved to be the start of an impressive run of golf for the Japanese as he finished runner-up in his first DP World Tour start at the Australian PGA Championship, one of eight top-10s accumulated this season. The highlight came in September when he won the Cazoo Open de France, becoming only the third Japanese golfer after Isao Aoki and Hideki Matsuyama to triumph on the DP World Tour.
He has now set his sights on winning on the PGA Tour.
“I want to put in the work to ultimately win on the PGA Tour,” said Hisatsune. “I want to follow in the footsteps of Hideki and become a player who can win Major championships. There are so many events that I’m looking forward to playing in. I remember watching Hideki play on the PGA Tour and I’ve always wanted to play on the PGA Tour too and thinking about how that may become a reality.”
Meanwhile, China’s Carl Yuan vowed to learn from mistakes made from his rookie PGA Tour season after failing to retain his playing rights for 2024 by the narrowest of margins.
The 26-year-old Yuan carded a final round of even-par 70 at the RSM Classic to miss out on a Top-125 finish in the FedEx Cup Fall standings by a mere point.
Yuan finished behind 125th ranked Troy Merritt, who secured the final PGA Tour card for next season which comes with exemptions into all Full Field events and The Players Championship.
Yuan, who like Fox is a former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship contestant, started the final round at Sea Island in a share of 55th place and traded four birdies against four bogeys to finish tied 68th. He made a gallant fight to stay inside the Top-125 with two closing birdies which proved futile in the end.
“I knew what I need to do. If I shoot three or four under, I’ll be okay. I didn’t do that, but I still gave it my all towards the end,” said Yuan.
“It was a pressure week. I did pretty well to get into the weekend, but on the weekend physically I didn’t feel great. My back was really bugging me. But I tried to do the best I can. I didn’t leave anything out there. If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s not, play better.
“I had a rough start during the season … my rookie year. Definitely things to be learned. It’s a good learning curve for me putting up good rounds, good tournaments, just having experiences being in the final group. It’s a great season for me to learn and grow.”
Despite his disappointment, all is not lost for Yuan as players finishing 126th to 150th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings, including compatriot Marty Dou Zecheng, who finished 133rd, will have conditional status in 2024. They will likely have around 10 starts next season, but Yuan said he would be signing up for the Qualifying School Final Stage next month where the top-five finishers and ties will earn PGA Tour cards.
Yuan said: “I’ll probably go to Q-School. If I finish top-five in Q-School, it’s still better than 126th – although 126th is not that bad of a spot, getting handful of tournaments. So I’m not too worried about that since I have one year under my belt. I hope I get off to a better start next year and get in more tournaments and play well.”
