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Rory McIlroy breaks new ground by playing in India this week as he returns to competition for the initial occasion since the prestigious team event.

While the golf superstar widens his golfing horizons, the DP World Tour begins the final phase of this year's Race to Dubai. The world-class golfer is in the leading spot to secure the annual championship for the fourth consecutive year and seventh time overall.

This includes only three additional tournaments following the India Championship; the subsequent week's Genesis tournament in Korean venue - which wraps up the 'Back Nine' phase of the tour calendar - and then the final two tournaments in the Arabian region.

These big money playoff tournaments in the UAE capital and the emirate are exclusively available for the top 70 and then leading fifty in the standings.

However for the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this tournament lineup in India, there is less pressure than one would expect.

Sitting below the seventieth position, at first glance it would seem both require high finishes from their visit to the Delhi Golf Club to keep alive their campaigns. Yet, in fact, they are guaranteed in advance of their positions in Abu Dhabi and the final event.

This results from a little publicised but practical exception whereby members of Europe's Ryder Cup team are also considered eligible for the upcoming closing tournaments.

The English golfer, who triumphed in the PGA Tour's play-offs with his impressive victory at the season-ending event in Georgia, sits 94th in the continental circuit's annual rankings. The Irish champion, who made the putt that retained the team trophy, is one hundred fifty-fifth.

Additional squad members who can also qualify are Ludvig Aberg (seventy-second) and Sepp Straka (147th).

This could challenge the integrity of a playoff structure, which by nature is supposed to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this scenario also demonstrates realities faced by the Wentworth-based DP World Tour.

The tour is reliant on big backers such as the title partner, who are also the naming sponsors of this current tournament in India. They need the biggest stars at their biggest events to validate the investment, which runs to millions of dollars.

The talented golfer has enjoyed one of his best seasons, capped by his first win on US territory at the Atlanta course just under eight weeks past.

Fleetwood represents one of European golf's elite players and, honestly, it would be inconceivable to stage the 2025 season finale without him.

Practical considerations trumps pure competition, even though the top-ranked player - a local resident - has reserved his best performances for events that do not qualify on his domestic circuit.

Fleetwood has to date played only four European tournaments and failed to finish in the top 20 at any tournament; the Dubai Desert Classic, Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship or pro-am competition.

The majors also count on the Race to Dubai and his share of 16th at the Open was his only top 20 in the big four tournaments. But on the US tour he enjoyed seven top-five finishes.

Fleetwood was also Europe's top points scorer at the New York course last month. It would be absurd for him not to be participating with the tour's leading stars at the end of the season.

Although in the previous era the PGA and European tours were fierce competitors they are now inextricably linked thanks to the cooperative partnership that underpins European tour financial rewards.

While the English golfer, last week's winner of the Open De Espana, has positioned himself in close pursuit as his nearest challenger at the top of the Race to Dubai, much of the attention for the rest of the season will have an US focus.

The narrative will be shaped by the competition for 10 places on the American circuit for those who do not currently possess tour cards in the US. Penge, with three European victories, is guaranteed of what is widely regarded as 'promotion' to the American tour.

The Lancashire golfer, who also guaranteed invites to the Masters and British Open with his Spanish success, is not in the tournament lineup but will mount a final push to try to overhaul the leader at the peak of the rankings.

And Dan Brown, the man the champion defeated in the Spanish playoff, is one of several British golfers in the thick of the competition for a future US tour card.

Yorkshireman John Parry and the Bath duo of Smith and Canter also currently occupy spots that would yield a golden ticket for next year.

Some observers view this scenario as evidence that the DP World Tour is now nothing more than a feeder for the larger circuit on the American continent.

However the organization maintain it is a crucial system that underpins their tour calendar, a necessary and attractive feature that maximises competitive chances for its participants.

Certainly this is the season period where the practical aspects and compromises of men's professional golf seem at their most evident.