The MENA Golf Tour has confirmed that its leading players will earn exemptions into the Second Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School in 2026, in a move that significantly strengthens the Tour\u2019s standing as a route to the upper reaches of the professional game.<\/p>\n
The exemption takes the leading three players in the MENA Golf Tour\u2019s final 2025\/26 Rankings, to a limit of 10th place and not otherwise eligible, straight into the Second Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School, bypassing the First Stage entirely.<\/p>\n
For the players involved, it is a tangible reward for a season\u2019s work and a clear shortcut towards a card on one of the world\u2019s leading tours. To take up a place, players must have applied to enter the First Stage by the designated entry deadline. Players already exempt by other means will not count towards the three places, with the exemption passing to the next eligible player in the final standings.<\/p>\n
RELATED: MENA Golf Tour confirms exemption categories for 2026\/27 season<\/a><\/p>\n The benefit could reach well beyond those three. With several members likely to hold other exemptions by the time the DP World Tour Qualifying School begins, a strong group of MENA Golf Tour players could find themselves competing at the Second Stage, a notable show of strength for a circuit that continues to push its members towards the highest level.<\/p>\n It marks another building block in a pathway the Tour has worked hard to construct, one that now offers its leading players a credible, structured route from the MENA Golf Tour to the DP World Tour. Entries for the DP World Tour Qualifying School will open in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Keith Waters, Chairman and Commissioner of the MENA Golf Tour, said:<\/p>\n \u201cThis is\u00a0a significant moment for the MENA Golf\u00a0Tour and a real reward for the players\u00a0who have performed week in, week out\u00a0across our season. Earning a place at\u00a0the Second Stage of the DP World Tour\u00a0Qualifying School puts our leading\u00a0players one step closer to where they\u00a0want to be. The Middle East is our\u00a0home, and it always will be, but this\u00a0Tour was built to give emerging players\u00a0from anywhere a genuine pathway to the\u00a0top of the game. This is another\u00a0building block in that pathway, and a\u00a0clear marker of our ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media<\/p>\n