The DP World Tour is scheduled to finish its 2026 season in the Middle East. But two months from the tour’s playoffs, there are growing questions if the finale will take place, or where.
The final two events—the Abu Dhabi Championship and DP World Tour Championship—are slated for the first two weeks of November in the United Arab Emirates. However, the area has been targeted by ballistic missiles and drone strikes as an upshot of the Iran War. With the conflict showing no signs of slowing down, there have been rumblings as to whether the Old World circuit would risk visiting UAE given the regional instability.
Count Matt Fitzpatrick among those with reservations about proceeding as scheduled. Fitzpatrick has captured the DP World Tour Championship three times, including last year in a playoff. But on Wednesday at the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, Fitzpatrick raised concerns about whether he would defend his title.
“Being completely honest as things stand right now, I would say I’m not that comfortable,” Fitzpatrick said. “No, I wouldn’t be that comfortable. A few things have obviously changed for me, perspective and stuff. I’ve had a child in August, and that obviously kind of changes things, I guess, a bit more.
“In the case of what you read on news, I know where you get your news isn’t always … can be very one-sided, particularly in the U.S. But I think for me, as things stand right now, it would feel a little bit weird, given what I’m reading elsewhere. Things can change overnight, I’m sure. I think it seems to be going down that path of things are getting better. I’ve sort of looked on the U.K. website, I know they he changed from essential travel only to one step better than that.”
Fitzpatrick wasn’t the only one to speak on the matter. Open champ Ryan Fox said he was monitoring the situation: “If I feel like it’s not the right decision, I might not go.”
As of now, a source familiar with knowledge of the DP World Tour’s thinking said the tour still intends to host the events, although it will continue to take advice from international experts. Fitzpatrick alluded that he understands the position his tour is in.
“It’s obviously frustrating that the decision hasn’t been made so you can plan what’s going on,” he said. “But I understand there’s obviously a lot of moving parts to that, and it’s obviously difficult to make these decisions. I think if the tour do go, I’m sure they have had the best advice possible on what that looks like. As things stand right now, I wouldn’t necessarily be too keen on going.”
Fitzpatrick is No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking and has won three times in 2026.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com