Season Finale
We have (SADLY) hit the final event of season 2024/25, and whilst Elvis Smylie has sewn up the Order of Merit, and Ryan Peake the prime DPWT card, there is plenty happening at The National this week. Before we get to those permutations let’s see how things have changed after James Conran narrowly took out the Heritage Classic for his maiden victory last week.
The Rankings
Cameron Smith has officially moved into the #1 position. His missed cut at the 2024 Aus PGA has now decayed enough which sees him overtake Curtis Luck for top spot. Luck is active at The National this week and has a chance to take it back with a win.
With victory last week, James Conran moved up 41 positions from #72 to #31. Other big moves featured Nathan Page breaking into the top 100 for the first time, moving up 55 spots from #124 to #69, and Douglas Klein up 10 to #92.
Top 150 below.
The National
An increase from the PGA sees a larger field than the initially reported 120 players for The National this week, which has allowed some lower categorised players one final start. There is a huge amount going on with guys jostling for Order of Merit positions this week. DP World Tour cards, International Q-School exemptions, Alfred Dunhill Links starts, Top 50, Top 70, and Top 100 will all mean something different.
DPWT Cards and Final Stage of DPWT Q-School
Ryan Peake will take the Category 17 DPWT card, which will likely enable him to play 25+ events if he so chooses. The two Category 18 cards are still up for grabs, with Cam Smith already exempt through his 2022 Open win, Lucas Herbert and Jack Buchanan currently hold those positions. The word is Lucas Herbert can decline the card and it will fall to the next position, but Lucas is already a DPWT member so I’m not so certain it will happen that way but for the point of this article let’s presume it does.
The leading 3 entrants from the top 20 will be exempt into the Final Stage of DPWT Q-School. Q-School Graduates will also sit in Category 18, however they will be above our 2nd and 3rd DPWT cards. Last season saw Brett Coletta (#3), Matt Griffin (#4), and Cameron John (#7) take up that exemption so it’s unlikely to go further down the list than these players.
Jack Buchanan 643.83
Anthony Quayle 581.46
Curtis Luck 539.45
Corey Lamb 479.25
Jordan Doull 470.61
Harrison Crowe 401.81
(All players are active this week)
No publicly available information on the following exemptions so I am assuming the same as last season (may have changed).
Second Stage of DPWT Q-School and Alfred Dunhill Links Entry
The leading 4th to 10th placed entrants from the top 30 will be exempt into the Second Stage of Q-School. The Alfred Dunhill Links event will also see the top 10 entrants from the top 30 gain entry.
Korn Ferry Tour / Japan Tour / Asian Tour Q-School
As the Order of Merit winner, Elvis Smylie is exempt into the Final Stage of Korn Ferry Q-School. Those ranked #2 to #5 are exempt into Second Stage.
The leading three players from the top 15 are exempt into Third Stage of Japan Q-School, with the next five players from the top 30 are exempt into Second Stage.
The leading three players from the top 15 are exempt into Final Stage of Asian Tour Q-School.
Top 50 / Top 70 / Top 100
The top 50 players at season’s end will have full playing rights for next season which guarantees entry for all events. The top 70 will have conditional status and will be at the mercy of the mid-season re-rank. The top 100 will be exempt into the Final Stage of Australasian Q-School. A solo 2nd place this week earns 107 points (a win means full status for two years), so every player currently outside the top 50 can improve their status for next year.
These are the active players this week at The National.
#45 Tyler Wood 151.91
#47 Darcy Brereton 146.42
#48 Haydn Barron 137.13
#49 Brady Watt 136.46
#51 Nathan Page 135.16
#52 Sam Brazel 133.37
#53 Dillon Hart 131.97
#54 Josh Armstrong 130.61
#56 Denzel Ieremia 124.44
#57 Kade McBride 121.94
#59 Braden Becker 116.89
#63 Christopher Wood 101.42
#64 Blake Windred 92.58
#65 Andrew Kelly 90.35
#67 Adam Bland 87.87
#68 Douglas Klein 82.94
#71 Lincoln Tighe 77.33
#72 Todd Sinnott 77.13
#73 Lucas Higgins 77.11
#74 Aaron Pike 77.03
#78 Lawry Flynn 69.81
#79 James Gibellini 69.05
#82 Shae Wools-Cobb 68.10
#83 Kyle Michel 61.88
#84 Jarryd Felton 61.75
#87 James Hydes 54.54
#88 Justin Warren 54.32
#90 Dimitrios Papadatos 51.53
#91 Christopher Fan 51.04
#92 Jordan Zunic 50.97
#93 Zachary Maxwell 49.87
#94 Edward Donoghue 48.26
#96 Chris Crabtree 44.48
#97 Josh Younger 43.04
#98 Aaron Townsend 41.52
#99 Jack Pountney 40.88
#101 James Mee 38.25
#102 Kevin Yuan 37.66
#103 Anthony Choat 34.99
#104 Jay Mackenzie 34.93
#105 Andrew Richards 34.43
#107 DJ Loypur 32.71
#110 Jack Harrison 29.16
#111 Andre Lautee 28.68
#112 Ben Wharton 26.67
#113 Zach Murray 26.58
#117 Aiden Didone 22.95
#120 Siddharth Nadimpalli 22.00
#123 Toby Walker 19.06
#124 Damon Stephenson 18.40
#126 Tim Walker 18.20
#127 Ashley Hall 15.61
#128 Alex Edge 14.98
#130 Scott Strange 13.33
#131 Jack McLeod 12.78
#135 Darcy Boyd 9.91
#136 Bradley Kivimets 9.71
#137 Neven Basic 9.41
#138 Zach Ion 9.18
#141 David McKenzie 7.72
#142 Sungjin Yeo 7.31
#142 Riley Taylor 7.31
#144 Bailey Arnott 6.42
#146 Marcus Fraser 6.03
#147 Ben Ferguson 4.84
#148 Liam Georgiadis 4.42
#151 Max Charles 3.19
Unranked
Matthew Siporin
Liam Reaper
Leon Trenerry
*Previous tournament winners will sit in category 20 and will have conditional status next season (also subject to mid-season re-rank).
Futures Tour
Both our leaders on the Future Tour OOM, Billy Dowling and Declan O’Donovan, have received invitations for the final event. If one of them can earn enough points this week they can earn full playing status for next season. They currently sit on 50.86 and 48.14 points respectively, and will need to earn enough to sit in the equivalent of the top 50. It looks like this will be around 145 OOM points, which means they will require a solo 2nd so it is a very tough ask.
Declan O’Donovan has entered into Q-School for next season, and will be exempt into Final Stage with a top 100 equivalent finish. It looks like that will be approximately 43 OOM points so he likely already has enough, but making the weekend would make that certain.
For the real sickos, I’ll be active on Twitter (@MDGreen00) on Sunday tracking the final Order of Merit positions as the event comes to a close.
ENJOY THE BREAK