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The Northern Irish golfer breaks new ground by playing in India this week as he makes his comeback to action for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

While the golf superstar expands his competitive experience, the European golf circuit enters the closing stage of this year's season-long championship. The world-class golfer is in pole position to claim the annual championship for the fourth consecutive year and seventh time overall.

There are only three additional tournaments following the India Championship; the following week's Genesis Championship in Korean venue - which concludes the 'Back Nine' phase of the tour calendar - and then the final two tournaments in the Middle East.

These big money playoff tournaments in Abu Dhabi and the emirate are exclusively available for the top 70 and then leading fifty in the season rankings.

But for players such as Tommy Fleetwood and Lowry, who are also in this tournament lineup in the subcontinent, there is reduced stress than you might imagine.

Comfortably below the seventieth position, at initial inspection it would appear both need high finishes from their visit to the Delhi Golf Club to extend their campaigns. Yet, in fact, they are guaranteed in advance of their places in the UAE and the final event.

This is due to a rarely discussed but pragmatic loophole whereby participants of the European squad are also considered eligible for the upcoming closing tournaments.

The English golfer, who won the PGA Tour's play-offs with his stirring victory at the season-ending event in Atlanta, sits ninety-fourth in the continental circuit's season-long table. Lowry, who made the putt that secured the team trophy, is one hundred fifty-fifth.

Other squad members who can also qualify are Ludvig Aberg (72nd) and Sepp Straka (147th).

This could challenge the fairness of a playoff structure, which by nature is intended to bring intense high-stakes drama, but this scenario also demonstrates practical considerations faced by the headquartered European circuit.

The tour is dependent on big backers such as DP World, who are also the title sponsors of this current tournament in India. The tour requires the biggest stars at their premier tournaments to validate the investment, which amounts to substantial funding.

Fleetwood has experienced one of his most successful campaigns, capped by his first win on American soil at the Atlanta course just under two months ago.

He is one of European golf's superstars and, frankly, it would be inconceivable to stage the upcoming season climax without him.

Common sense overrides pure competition, even though the world number five - a local resident - has reserved his best performances for events that do not count on his domestic circuit.

Fleetwood has so far played only four European tournaments and been unable to place in the leading twenty at any of them; the Dubai Desert Classic, UK tournament, flagship event or Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The majors also contribute on the Race to Dubai and his sixteenth-place finish at the Open was his sole high finish in the big four tournaments. However on the American-based circuit he achieved seven top-five finishes.

Fleetwood was also the team's highest contributor at the New York course last month. It seems absurd for him not to be participating with the tour's leading stars at the end of the season.

While in the previous era the American and European circuits were deadly rivals they are now closely connected thanks to the strategic alliance that underpins DP World Tour prize funds.

As Marco Penge, last week's winner of the Spanish Open, has positioned himself in close pursuit as his closest rival at the summit of the Race to Dubai, much of the interest for the rest of the season will have an American bias.

The storyline will be driven by the scramble for ten spots on the American circuit for those who do not already have tour cards in the US. Penge, with three European victories, is guaranteed of what is widely regarded as 'promotion' to the US circuit.

The Clitheroe-based pro, who also secured invites to the Augusta National and Open with his Madrid victory, is not in the tournament lineup but will launch a final push to try to overtake the leader at the peak of the standings.

Meanwhile Dan Brown, the man Penge beat in the Madrid play-off, is one of four other Britons in the thick of the competition for a future US tour card.

Northern golfer John Parry and the Bath duo of Smith and Canter also currently occupy positions that would provide a valuable opportunity for the coming season.

Certain analysts view this development as proof that the DP World Tour is now essentially a feeder for the larger circuit on the American continent.

However the organization argue it is a vital mechanism that underpins their tour calendar, a necessary and attractive element that maximises playing opportunities for its members.

Certainly this is the time of the year where the practical aspects and necessary adjustments of elite golf competition seem at their most evident.