Pros protest exclusion from big-money event: ‘Disgrace’

The world of pro golf is cutthroat, with even some of the best players having to fight their way into tournament fields. Joost Luiten successfully battled his way into the DP World Tour Championship earlier this month. But he wasn’t so fortunate for another upcoming DP World Tour event.

After being left out of the big-money Nedbank Golf Challenge field, Luiten took to Instagram to express his disbelief and dismay, and some of his fellow European pros joined in to support him and criticize the tournament.

Here’s what you need to know.

Joost Luiten decries missing Nedbank Challenge: ‘Hard to understand’

The hardest field to get into on the DP World Tour is the DP World Tour Championship. That was no problem for veteran Joost Luiten.

Across the entire 2025 season, Luiten collected three top-5 finishes and earned enough Race to Dubai points to be one of only 52 players who qualified for the event.

At season’s end, he sat at 33rd in season-long standings. The Nedbank Golf Challenge in honor of Gary Player kicks off December 4th and is part of the 2026 season. While it has a limited field, the current cutoff is 66 players, 14 more than the DP World Tour Championship.

Despite that, Luiten currently finds himself as the first reserve for the tournament. Making matters worse, the Nedbank features one of the biggest DP World Tour purses all year at $6 million.

In an Instagram post over the weekend, Luiten lamented his position and expressed confusion for how he didn’t qualify.

“Sitting as first reserve for the Nedbank Golf Challenge… honestly, it’s hard to understand,” Luiten wrote.

“Finishing 33rd on the Order of Merit, earning a place in the biggest tournament of 2025 DP World Tour Championship, yet not getting into a smaller event with bigger field and more spots then the tour championship! I just don’t get it!” Luiten continued. “Hard to understand or explain how the @dpworldtour world tour makes those decisions.”

Luiten’s exclusion comes down to qualification criteria. For example, any player who has won a DP World Tour event with a $2 million purse from 2024-2026 qualifies for the Nedbank Golf Challenge. Though Luiten has six-career DP World Tour wins, his last came in 2018.

Meanwhile, several players who finished worse than Luiten in the 2025 Race to Dubai standings have won since 2024, putting them above Luiten in the field qualification system.

Fellow pros protest Luiten’s DP World Tour exclusion

While Luiten was open and honest about his difficult situation on Instagram, he remained diplomatic with his comments. But some of his fellow pros did not.

After Luiten had posted his lengthy complaint to Instagram, several DP World Tour players replied to the post expressing their support for Luiten.

Pro Dan Brown called the decision a “disgrace.”

“This is a disgrace, should be based off last season’s ranking,” Brown wrote in a reply. “Reward those who have played the best golf throughout the entire season and not just done it for one week of the year…”

DP World Tour pro Brandon Robinson Thompson encouraged Luiten to “say it louder.”

Fellow pro Jorge Campillo noted that while Luiten hasn’t made the field, some LIV Golf pros have qualified.

“Must be nice seeing guys from LIV ahead of you that last win was in 2023,” Campillo wrote.

French pro Romain Langasque wrote, “Agree 100%. We bring this up during player committee this year… but the tour didn’t want to change the way to qualify. Same for invitational in January.”

In the end, Luiten is taking it in stride. He noted that he’s proud of his results this past season, and he’s hopeful someone will withdraw and allow him to play the Nedbank.

“I’m proud of the season I’ve had and the progress I’ve made, and I’m ready to play. Hopefully a spot opens up, but either way, I’ll keep pushing forward in 2026.”

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