Can Veer Ahlawat keep his run of making cuts alive this week?
Gurgaon’s Veer Ahlawat, 29, who has been struggling in his debut year on the DP World (European) Tour, has made two consecutive cuts, finishing 19th at the Nexo Championship in Scotland last week and following it up with a 34th place finish this week at the US$2.75 million Danish Golf Championship with rounds of 73-68-70-72 (1-under 283).
Playing his 16th event of the season, Ahlawat has made nine cuts and earned US$170,935 (₹1.49 crore) to sit 136th in the DP World Tour rankings — seven places outside conditional status for 2026 (top 129 in rankings) and 23 spots away from a full eligibility (top 113).
His two consecutive cuts however may give him the much-needed confidence to achieve his fully eligible status on the tour in 2026 with nine events remaining, including the inaugural US$4 million DP World India Championship at Delhi Golf Club in October. Most of the lucrative US$9 million Rolex Series events on the Tour are scheduled for the season end which means the intensity will only grow in the remaining weeks.
He would be the first of the 3 Indians to retain his DP World Tour eligibility among those who have qualified thanks to the PGTI pathway. Manu Gandas and OP Chouhan, the previous qualifiers in 2023 and 2024, were unable to make the transition to conditions and competition in Europe and have failed to regain their form even in India after each spent a gruelling year struggling abroad.
Meanwhile, 12 year “veteran” of the DP World Tour, now 29 , Shubhankar Sharma’s lean run continued as he missed yet another cut and sits 200th in the Tour’s 2025 rankings — almost certain to lose his full playing rights for 2026.
However, Sharma should continue to get several entries in Europe in 2025 based on his two past wins and total career earnings. Ahlawat could join Sharma as the 2nd European tour regular after Sharma has been alone for nearly a decade, briefly joined by Gaganjeet Bhullar between 2018–21.
The DP World Tour next moves to England for the US$3.5 million Betfred British Masters from August 21–24.
Meanwhile in Finland, despite moving into 5th place after shooting 65 in round 3, Saptak Talwar, 26, in his rookie season on the 2nd rung Hotel Planner Tour (formerly European Challenge Tour), dropped to 27th at the US$340,000 Finnish Challenge with a final day 75.
His best finish so far remains 14th in Ireland, earlier this year, and his chances of moving up to the main tour look very bleak unless he scores a breakthrough win as he moves to the Netherlands for the US$ 340,000 Dutch Futures event this week.
Photo – Asian Tour