Two Wiltshire golfers qualify for PGA Tour after big seasons

Laurie Canter and Jordan Smith both managed to secure one of the ten PGA Tour cards on offer in the 2025 Race to Dubai after excellent performances at the season ending Jumeirah Golf Estates  

Through their success in this competition, Canter and Smith have earned dual membership for the DP World Tour and PGA Tour next season and have qualified for The Players Championship in 2026 as well.

The top ten players who had not already secured membership for the PGA Championship were able to win these cards, which could see them at some of the biggest golf tournaments next year.

Canter finished tied third in the Race to Dubai Tour Championship on -17 and just one shot behind winners Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy.

On the final day of the season-closing DP World Tour Championship, Canter, who is based at Cumberwell Park near Bradford on Avon, was tied first and surrounded by Ryder Cup competitors just missed out as he needed to birdie the 18th hole but could only manage a finishing par on the last hole  

He had been joint for the lead with Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Åberg until Matt Fitzpatrick sank a birdie putt on the final hole to pull ahead, and McIlroy got an eagle to set up a playoff, which was won by Fitzpatrick.

36-year-old Canter narrowly missed out on the top ten in last year’s competition, but managed to avenge that this year, as he won the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship after a playoff, his second-ever win on the DP World Tour, and was also runner-up in two events.

Smith, from Chippenham, came joint 20th this week on minus ten, which proved to be enough to seal one of the final cards.

Smith has enjoyed a very strong season all around, finishing runner-up on two occasions and making the cut at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Speaking to The Adver back in 2022, Smith said: “I’ve been playing well on the DP World Tour, and mine and my team’s aim is to get out onto the PGA Tour eventually.”

This will be his first time earning the PGA Tour card, but had the same pathway existed in 2022, he would have done so then, when he finished 12th in the Race to Dubai and also won the Portugal Masters.