Analysis
Race to Dubai: Chacarra closes on Reed with two Back 9 events left
Eugenio Chacarra's share of second in Madrid cut Patrick Reed's lead to 165.73 points and pushed Rory McIlroy to third. All three are expected in Delhi this week, with the Genesis Championship to follow.
Patrick Reed’s Race to Dubai lead is 142 points smaller after a week in Madrid that Rory McIlroy sat out. Back from three weeks out with an injury, Reed missed the cut at the Open de España by a shot after rounds of 73 and 71. Eugenio Chacarra finished joint second and earned 433.50 points.
The top ten after Madrid:
| Pos | Player | Points | Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Reed (USA) | 3,423.62 | 19 |
| 2 | Eugenio Chacarra (ESP) | 3,257.89 | 27 |
| 3 | Rory McIlroy (NIR) | 3,115.86 | 10 |
| 4 | Casey Jarvis (RSA) | 2,654.01 | 24 |
| 5 | Aaron Rai (ENG) | 2,408.50 | 6 |
| 6 | Ryan Fox (NZL) | 2,266.95 | 10 |
| 7 | Jayden Schaper (RSA) | 2,153.29 | 24 |
| 8 | Jacob Skov Olesen (DEN) | 1,954.34 | 27 |
| 9 | Matt Fitzpatrick (ENG) | 1,882.95 | 8 |
| 10 | Andy Sullivan (ENG) | 1,848.27 | 25 |
The gap from Reed to Chacarra is 165.73 points. McIlroy is 307.76 back and has played nine fewer events than Reed.
How Chacarra got here
Chacarra played the week on a fractured toe, started Sunday five behind and was level with the lead until he bogeyed the 17th. His 66 left him one behind the winner, Grant Forrest. It was his 27th start of the season, more than Reed or McIlroy. He has two wins this year and kept adding points while Reed was injured and McIlroy chose his events.
The DP World Tour’s final-round highlights:
Delhi, then Korea
The Back 9 has two events remaining, each worth 5,000 points in total, with 835 to the winner:
- DP World India Championship, Delhi Golf Club, 15–18 October, US$4 million. Tommy Fleetwood defends. McIlroy, Reed and Chacarra are all in the field, according to GolfMagic.
- Genesis Championship, Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, South Korea, 22–25 October, US$4 million.
Then come the Play-Offs. The top 70 available players go to Yas Links for the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on 5–8 November, and the top 50 after that for the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on 12–15 November, which carries the season’s biggest points haul.
What Delhi means for Reed and McIlroy
We think Delhi is the week that matters most for Reed. McIlroy has said his remaining DP World Tour starts are India and the two Play-Offs, so he will skip Korea. If Reed is fit and beats McIlroy in Delhi, McIlroy will go into the Gulf with a bigger gap to close in only two events.
If Chacarra plays both remaining Back 9 events, two strong finishes could take him to Abu Dhabi as leader. McIlroy is chasing an eighth Race to Dubai title, which would match Colin Montgomerie’s record. Reed is bidding to become only the second American to win it, after Collin Morikawa in 2021.
Ten PGA TOUR cards
The top ten players not already exempt earn 2027 PGA TOUR cards. Forrest’s win lifted him 91 places to 27th, and Victor Perez’s share of second took him up 40 places to 49th. The Genesis Championship is also the last chance to finish inside the top 100 and keep a near-full DP World Tour schedule for 2027.
Sources
- DP World Tour: Race to Dubai Rankings, accurate after the Open de España
- DP World Tour: The Back 9, all you need to know
- Golf Today: Forrest holds halfway lead as Patrick Reed misses cut
- GolfMagic: DP World India Championship field and prize money 2026
- PGA TOUR: Chacarra’s Sunday charge falls short as Forrest wins Open de España
- DP World Tour on YouTube: Round 4 Highlights, 2026 Open de España
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