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Rory McIlroy 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 golfing horizons, the DP World Tour enters the final phase of this year's Race to Dubai. McIlroy is in the leading spot to claim the annual championship for the fourth season running and seventh occasion in total.

There are only three additional tournaments after the India Championship; the following week's Genesis tournament in South Korea - which wraps up the 'Back Nine' phase of the tour calendar - and then the final two tournaments in the Arabian region.

These particular high-stakes playoff tournaments in Abu Dhabi and the emirate are reserved for the leading seventy and then leading fifty in the season rankings.

But for the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this week's field in the subcontinent, there is reduced stress than one would expect.

Comfortably outside the seventieth position, at first glance it would appear both need strong performances from their trip to the Indian course to extend their campaigns. But, in fact, they are already assured of their places in the UAE and Dubai.

This results from a rarely discussed but pragmatic exception whereby participants of the European squad are also considered qualified for the upcoming season finale events.

The English golfer, who won the PGA Tour's play-offs with his stirring victory at August's Tour Championship in Atlanta, lies 94th in the continental circuit's annual rankings. The Irish champion, who sank the putt that secured the Ryder Cup, is one hundred fifty-fifth.

Other European team-mates who can potentially benefit are Ludvig Aberg (seventy-second) and Straka (147th).

This could challenge the fairness of a playoff structure, which by nature is supposed to bring intense high-stakes drama, but this scenario also demonstrates realities faced by the headquartered DP World Tour.

They are dependent on big backers such as DP World, who are also the naming sponsors of this week's event in the Asian nation. They need the biggest stars at their biggest events to validate the financial commitment, which runs to substantial funding.

The talented golfer has experienced one of his best seasons, capped by his first win on American soil at the Atlanta course just under two months ago.

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

Practical considerations trumps pure competition, even though the top-ranked player - a Dubai resident - has saved his best performances for events that do not count on his domestic circuit.

Fleetwood has so far played only four European tournaments and failed to place in the leading twenty at any tournament; the Middle Eastern event, Scottish Open, flagship event or Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Major championships also count on the season standings and his sixteenth-place finish at the British Open was his sole high finish in the major events. However on the American-based circuit he achieved seven top-five finishes.

Fleetwood was also Europe's top points scorer at Bethpage last month. It would be ridiculous for him not to be taking his place alongside the tour's leading stars at the end of the season.

While in the past the PGA and European tours were fierce competitors they are now inextricably linked thanks to the cooperative partnership that underpins European tour financial rewards.

While the English golfer, last week's winner of the Spanish Open, has moved into close pursuit as his nearest challenger at the top of the season championship, much of the attention for the rest of the season will have an US focus.

The storyline will be shaped by the scramble for 10 places on the PGA Tour for those who do not already have tour cards in the US. Penge, with three European victories, is guaranteed of what is generally considered as 'promotion' to the American tour.

The Lancashire golfer, who also guaranteed invitations to the Masters and British Open with his Spanish success, is not in the India field but will mount a final push to try to overtake McIlroy at the peak of the rankings.

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

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

Certain analysts see this scenario as proof that the DP World Tour is now nothing more than a feeder for the larger circuit on the other side of the pond.

However the DP World Tour argue it is a vital mechanism that underpins their schedule, a necessary and enticing element that optimizes competitive chances for its members.

Undoubtedly this is the time of the year where the practical aspects and compromises of elite golf competition seem at their most evident.