News All Articles
15 down, one to go | The national open winners on the 2026 Race to Dubai so far
Features

15 down, one to go | The national open winners on the 2026 Race to Dubai so far

This week sees the Open de España presented by Madrid mark the 16th and final national open to be staged as part of the 2026 Race to Dubai season.

Across the 42-event campaign, just over a third is dedicated to some of the most historic tournaments on golf's global tour.

So far, through the 15 national opens to have taken place in the campaign, we have had 13 different winners.

Here, working our way through the Global Swings, we celebrate the players to have written their names into the history books with silverware-winning performances around the world.

Opening Swing

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen - Crown Australian Open

The Dane arrived at Royal Melbourne Golf Club shortly after the high of claiming dual membership with the PGA TOUR after an impressive rookie season on the DP World Tour.

A three-time winner on the HotelPlanner Tour on the way to topping the Road to Mallorca Rankings in 2025, he began the final round with a two-shot lead but was tied with home favourite Cameron Smith as the pair made their way down the 18th.

But he nervelessly got up and down after missing the green with his approach to claim a one-shot triumph Down Under and through it earn a spot at the Masters Tournament.

Jayden Schaper - AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open

If Neergaard-Petersen was a DP World Tour winner in waiting, Schaper was another for whom it was a matter of when, not if.

After nine top tens on the 2025 Race to Dubai, the South African was already one of the most consistent performers but the Opening Swing saw him take his career to new heights as he won back-to-back titles - on each occassion emerging victorious from a play-off - during a dream start to the season.

A week on from his breakthrough success on home soil at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, a hole-out eagle saw him beat American Ryan Gerard at the second extra hole to position himself as the early pacesetter on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World.

International Swing

Casey Jarvis - Magical Kenya Open presented by absa & Investec South African Open Championship

Somebody's success is often a source of inspiration for others and that proved the case for a good friend of Schaper.

Across back-to-back weeks on his home continent, Jarvis put South African golf back in the headlines as he became the third multiple winner of the season after Schaper and Patrick Reed.

A closing 62 capped a wire-to-wire victory in Kenya, before he capitalised on his momentum to win his national open - becoming the seventh different home winner in the last seven editions of this event - and with it earn a place at the Masters and Open Championship.

Asian Swing

Alex Fitzpatrick - Hero Indian Open

Now and again there are players who enjoy a transformative period in their career beyond even their wildest expectations.

Long touted as destined for success after enjoying success as an amateur, the Englishman arrived at DLF Golf & Country Club as one of the standout talents searching for a first DP World Tour win.

But, over one of the toughest courses on schedule, he produced a stunning back nine in the final round to enter the winner's circle, before a month later teaming up with his Major-winning brother Matt to become a PGA TOUR winner with victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Since then, he has registered four top tens stateside and is already assured of making it to the FedExCup Playoffs.

Bernd Wiesberger  - Volvo China Open

While Fitzpatrick will harbour hopes of playing his way into Ryder Cup contention over the next 12 months, one player who has already represented Europe is Wiesberger.

The Austrian is among the most experienced players on the DP World Tour, having amassed 371 appearances since his debut in 2006.

At Shanghai Enhance Anting GC, the 40-year-old won his ninth DP World Tour title, almost five years after his last, with the triumph helping him earn a return to the Major stage for the US PGA Championship.

Mikael Lindberg - Turkish Airlines Open

A professional since 2013, you could be forgiven for thinking the Swede's wait for a breakthrough DP World Tour win was longer than it was.

A graduate of the HotelPlanner Tour in 2022, he could not keep his card in his maiden season but once again gained promotion in 2024 and across two weeks found some form that would result in an emotional victory aged 33.

In his 70th start, the Swede held off playing partner Daniel Rodrigues with a final round of 69 to finish ten under par for a two-stroke win at a rain-swept National Golf Club in Belek, Antalya.

European Swing

Richard Sterne - Soudal Open

While there have been a host of first-time winners this season, the success story of veteran Sterne provides reason to never give up.

The South African won six DP World Tour titles in a nine-year span from 2004 to 2013 but has since been forced into several seasons where his appearances were limited to single figures due to a host of injury problems.

However, in Belgium, he produced a stunning eagle on the penultimate hole of the final round as his well-timed dart to the finish line combined with a faltering back nine by countryman Zander Lombard saw him claim an unexpected first triumph since the 2013 Joburg Open.

Kota Kaneko - Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol

It is said that talent travels and the triumph of Kaneko is a case in point. The Japanese earned his card for 2026 via the DP World Tour's alliance with the Japan Golf Tour after winning twice in his homeland to top its Order of Merit.

Made his first eight cuts including a top ten in Türkiye and then followed a Major debut at the US PGA Championship with a runner-up finish at the Soudal Open.

A week later he went one better, claiming a two-shot victory at the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol as he became the fifth player from his country in the last four years to win on the DP World Tour.

Eugenio Chacarra - KLM Open & DS Automobiles Italian Open

The Spaniard is a man of his word.

Ahead of his title defence at the Hero Indian Open in March, the 26-year-old spoke of how he hoped a new approach to his dietary and exercise routine would help in his goal of winning twice this season.

And after impressively winning the KLM Open in the Netherlands, he became the fourth multiple winner of the season at the DS Automobiles 83° Open d'Italia through an impressive display of front running to bring further credence to his goal of establishing himself as one of the world’s best.

Closing Swing

Tom Kim - Genesis Scottish Open

The South Korean announced himself on the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR stage at The Renaissance Club four years ago with a third-place finish.

After that, he went on to win three PGA TOUR titles and make two Presidents Cup appearances but suffered a subsequent loss of form prior to a timely third-place finish at the U.S. Open that saw him rise from 141st to 64th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

That showing in a Major provided a boost in belief that he made the most of as the 24-year-old overcame a world-class field to become a Rolex Series winner in Scotland.

Back 9

Thriston Lawrence - Omega European Masters

Sometimes players just have a knack for performing well at certain venues.

Despite an indifferent campaign heading into his title defence, the South African arrived in Crans-Montana with history in his sights as he sought to become just the second player after Seve Ballesteros to claim a hat-trick of wins since the tournament became a DP World Tour event in 1972, and the sixth in its 103-year history.

Having led at the halfway stage, he started the final round six shots adrift of 54-hole leader Paul Casey, but he set the clubhouse target with a 62 before edging out the Englishman on the fourth hole of a play-off to be crowned King of the Mountains once again.

Shane Lowry - Amgen Irish Open

The Irishman blitzed the field in Doonbeg to become a two-time winner of his national open, 17 years after famously claiming the title as an amateur.

From the moment he claimed the halfway lead with a course-record eight-under-par 62, he produced an impressive display of frontrunning to break the Irish Open margin of victory record with an 11-shot win.

After near-misses earlier in the year, he later admitted to overcoming final-round demons on his way to his runaway success and a first individual title in four years.

Matt Fitzpatrick - FedEx Open de France

The Fitzpatricks won't forget 2026 in a hurry.

Already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, including victory alongside younger brother Alex, Matt underlined his status as one of European golf's star performers on the global stage by winning Continental Europe's oldest national open to take his haul of DP World Tour titles to 11.

The Englishman led by five heading into the final round at Le Golf National and, despite waiting 13 holes for his first birdie, closed out an ultimately comfortable three-shot success.

What's still to come?

First held in 1912, the Open de España presented by Madrid is one of the DP World Tour's most historic events, having formed part of the inaugural international schedule in 1972.

An ever-present at his national open since winning the first of his three titles on his debut in 2018, home favourite Jon Rahm will resume his bid to surpass Spanish great Ballesteros with a fourth triumph.

For the second year running, the tournament will offer a spot at next year’s Masters Tournament to the winner when it takes place at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid from October 8-11.

Read next