In a bizarre twist of fate, Stephen Gallacher will make an immediate return to the DP World Tour for the rest of the 2023 campaign, after a genuine administrative error had wrongly excluded him from the first 6 months of this season’s schedule.
The DP World Tour announced to its Membership today that, in spite of a 173rd place on the 2022 Race to Dubai, Stephen did in fact still maintain his full playing rights as a result of his position on the Career Money list.
Following the end of last season’s campaign, Stephen was told that he would not keep his card through the Career Money list category (category 11), however the DP World Tour announced today that this was a mistake, and issued a full and unreserved apology to Stephen, and confirmed his return to the 2023 DP World Tour with immediate effect.
Stephen, a 4-time winner on the DP World Tour, has spent the past 6 months playing a fractured schedule which included the occasional invite to DP World Tour events and playing on the Challenge Tour.
This dramatic volte-face by the DP World Tour also includes a special membership exemption into 2024 to reflect the missed opportunities that Stephen has had over the past 6 months.
Speaking this morning, Stephen said: “I am really delighted at today’s news, and I am very pleased how the DP World Tour has handled the matter once they realised that the mistake had been made.”
“The past 6 months have been hard, and sitting on the sidelines watching Tour events is no substitute from playing in them. I am as competitive now as I have always been, and from Qualifying School, to last minute DP World Tour invitations, through to Challenge Tour events, my ambition and desire to get back playing and winning has never wavered.”
“I am still hugely motivated and I can now plan my schedule for the rest of this campaign to try to secure my card back based purely on my results on the course.”
Stephen competes this week in the Soudal Open in Belgium, before a run of events in mainland Europe and the UK.