Rory the best, Besseling back on DP World Tour
The 2024 DP World Tour season is over and in one respect it was no different from 2023. Rory McIlroy won the Race to Dubai ranking as he did last year. Good news from the Dutch front: Wil Besseling promoted to the DP World Tour again.
It was already the sixth time McIlroy crowned himself the best on the DP World Tour. The Northern Irishman thus equalled the number of none other than Seve Ballesteros, three-time winner also of the Dutch Open.
McIlroy also won the concluding tournament, the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai last week. He can now continue the hunt for Colin Montgomerie next year. The Scot was the best player on the DP World Tour no less than eight times at the end of a season.
Main role
There was also a starring role for Rasmus Højgaard in the final week of the 2024 golf year. The 23-year-old Dane finished second in Dubai and therefore also second in the final standings. There was another bonus for him and nine others: they earned a tour card for the PGA Tour this season. Rasmus, who finished fourth in this year’s KLM Open, can now follow his twin brother Nicolai, who won the final tournament in Dubai last year and thus also earned playing rights on the American tour. No fewer than seven of the ten players who were graced with a card for the PGA Tour this year thanks to their good performances participated in the KLM Open.
Salient detail: the Højgaard brothers got the chance to show themselves at the highest level in the KLM Open at an early stage of their professional careers. Nicolai made his debut in the KLM Open in 2019, when the tournament was also played at The International. As a debutant, he surprisingly finished second behind Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
Wil Besseling
The Netherlands will again have three players “fixed” on the DP World Tour next year. Unfortunately, Daan Huizing lost his card this season, but his place will be taken by Wil Besseling. In the leaden Qualifying School, the North Hollander played himself just inside the required top-15 with birdies on the last three holes. A performance of stature.
Na een jaar op de Challenge Tour keert hij dus alweer terug op het hoogste niveau. Besseling voegt zich in 2025 bij Darius van Driel, dit jaar in Kenia zijn eerste titel op de DP World Tour won en Joost Luiten, zesvoudig winnaar en tweemaal winnaar van het KLM Open (2013, 2016). Besseling zal ongetwijfeld reikhalzend uitkijken naar het KLM Open dit jaar op The International, want in 2019 behaalde hij op Amsterdams grondgebied zijn beste prestatie ooit (zevende) in het ‘eigen’ toernooi.
