South African Daniel van Tonder has impressed upon his return to the DP World Tour and currently leads the HotelPlanner Tour’s class of 2025 on this season’s Race to Dubai.
All 20 of last year’s graduates have teed it up on the DP World Tour this year, with several on track to retain playing privileges on Golf’s Global Tour for the 2027 campaign after a quarter of the season.
Van Tonder, who kicked off the 2025 Road to Mallorca with back-to-back wins in the first two events of the season, currently sits 38th on the Race to Dubai, having made a big move following the Investec South African Open Championship. After opening with a two over par 72 at Stellenbosch Golf Club, Van Tonder faced an uphill task to make the cut at his national open. However, after battling back with a two under par 68 on Friday, the 34-year-old would produce a bogey-free 64 on moving day to move firmly into contention in the Western Cape. Van Tonder would eventually end the week in a tie for sixth after signing off with a 68, his best finish since he returned to the DP World Tour. The South African’s performance in Stellenbosch continued what has been a strong start to life back on Golf’s Global Tour, with a top ten at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player and two top 15s at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and Alfred Dunhill Championship on home soil.
Van Tonder’s countryman and last year’s Road to Mallorca Number One, JC Ritchie, has also made a solid start to the season, currently sitting 63rd on the Race to Dubai upon the conclusion of his national open in Stellenbosch. Ritchie starred on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2025, securing automatic promotion following three victories and started the new campaign where he left off with a top ten finish in Mauritius before he made his first ever cut in a Rolex Series event, doing so at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
Ritchie sits eleven places ahead of Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy, who will be looking to cement his place inside the top 100 having only teed it up on five occasions in what is his rookie season on the DP World Tour. The signs, however, look positive for the 21-year-old, having already registered a top ten at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and a top 15 in his last outing, coming at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa. Guillamoundeguy was one of the breakout stars on the 2025 Road to Mallorca and sealed a maiden victory at the Irish Challenge, while also registering eight further top tens en route to ending the year fifth on the season-long Rankings.
Swede Tobias Jonsson rounds off the 2025 graduates inside the Race to Dubai’s top 100 having started his maiden DP World Tour season at the opening events on the schedule in Australia. The 25-year-old, who posted a season-high finish of 18th at the AfrAsia Mauritius Open, has missed just one cut to date and is set for an eighth start of the campaign at this week’s Joburg Open.
Englishman James Morrison, who sealed a memorable return to the DP World Tour after winning the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A last November, sits just outside the top 100 alongside Swede Hugo Townsend.
In total, 16 of the class of 2025 are set to tee it up at this week’s Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club, an event won by HotelPlanner Tour alumni in each of the past five years.
