Joost Luiten, Last Man Into the Field, Leads in Dubai

The last man into the field is the first name on the leaderboard. Joost Luiten, who arrived at the DP World Tour Championship ranked 56th in the Race to Dubai standings, opened with a five-under 67 at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Thursday to lead the season finale after one round.

The round was built early. Luiten shot 31 on the front nine of the Earth Course, stacking seven birdies against two bogeys across the day, and 67 is his lowest score on this course since 2016. Jacob Skov Olesen sits alone in second at four under after a 68.

The names chasing him are heavier than his. Rory McIlroy is in the group tied third at three under after a 69 built on five birdies, two bogeys and a birdie at the last. Tyrrell Hatton is tied eighth at two under. Jon Rahm is at one under, and Race leader Eugenio Chacarra ground out a level-par 72.

Luiten isn't supposed to be the story of this week, and he knows what the story is supposed to be. He's 40, a six-time European Tour winner whose last victory came at the 2018 NBO Oman Open, and whose career-high world ranking of 28 dates to 2014. His career has included stranger fights than leaderboards — the Dutch Olympic Committee once tried to keep him out of the 2024 Games even after he qualified and won his appeal.

But this week has a second prize attached to his name. The top 10 finishers in the final Race to Dubai standings who aren't already exempt earn PGA Tour cards for 2027, and a win on Sunday would carry Luiten to his first one. The last man in would leave with the biggest door in golf opened.

The board behind him is crowded with the week's intended protagonists. Alongside McIlroy at three under sit Victor Perez, Gregorio De Leo, Freddy Schott and Francesco Laporta, all at 69. The tournament carries a $10 million purse with $3 million to the winner, and the field is the top 50 available players from the Race to Dubai standings — which is precisely what makes Luiten's position so unlikely. He didn't sneak into a weak event. He led the strongest field the tour assembles all year.

One round leads nothing yet, and the Earth Course has three days of water and wind left in it. Still, the season finale was set up as a coronation for somebody else. After 18 holes, it's a 40-year-old Dutchman making everyone else chase.