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Rory McIlroy breaks new ground by competing in the Indian tournament this week as he makes his comeback to action for the first time since the prestigious team event.

As the Northern Irishman widens his competitive experience, the DP World Tour begins the final phase of this year's Race to Dubai. McIlroy is in pole position to claim the annual championship for the fourth consecutive year and seventh occasion in total.

This includes only three more events following the India Championship; the following week's Genesis Championship in Korean venue - which wraps up the 'Back Nine' phase of the tour calendar - and then the final two tournaments in the Arabian region.

These particular big money playoff tournaments in Abu Dhabi and the emirate are reserved for the leading seventy and then top 50 in the standings.

But for players such as Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this week's field in the subcontinent, there is less pressure than you might imagine.

Sitting outside the seventieth position, at initial inspection it would seem both require strong performances from their visit to the Indian course to keep alive their campaigns. But, actually, they are guaranteed in advance of their positions in the UAE and the final event.

This is due to a rarely discussed but practical exception whereby members of Europe's Ryder Cup team are also considered eligible for the upcoming season finale events.

Fleetwood, who won the PGA Tour's play-offs with his stirring victory at the season-ending event in Atlanta, sits 94th in the European tour's season-long table. The Irish champion, who sank the putt that retained the team trophy, is one hundred fifty-fifth.

Additional squad members who can potentially benefit are Ludvig Aberg (72nd) and Straka (one hundred forty-seventh).

This could question the fairness of a play-off system, which by nature is supposed to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this situation also illustrates practical considerations faced by the Wentworth-based DP World Tour.

The tour is dependent on big backers such as DP World, who are also the naming sponsors of this current tournament in the Asian nation. They need the top players at their biggest events to justify the investment, which runs to millions of dollars.

The talented golfer has enjoyed one of his most successful seasons, highlighted by his first win on American soil at East Lake just under eight weeks past.

He is one of European golf's elite players and, honestly, it would be inconceivable to host 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 tournaments that do not count on his home tour.

Fleetwood has to date played only four European tournaments and failed to finish in the leading twenty at any of them; the Middle Eastern event, Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship or pro-am competition.

Major championships also count on the Race to Dubai and his sixteenth-place finish at the 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 the team's highest contributor at the New York course last month. It would be 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 inextricably linked thanks to the strategic alliance that supports DP World Tour prize funds.

While the English golfer, recent champion of the Spanish Open, has moved into McIlroy's wing mirrors as his closest rival at the top of the Race to Dubai, much of the attention for the remaining schedule will have an American bias.

The narrative will be shaped by the competition for 10 places on the PGA Tour for those who do not already have playing rights in the United States. The rising star, with three DPWT wins, is assured of what is generally considered as 'promotion' to the US circuit.

The Clitheroe-based pro, who also secured invitations to the Augusta National and British Open with his Spanish success, is not in the India field but will launch a last effort to try to overhaul the leader at the top of the rankings.

Meanwhile Dan Brown, the player the champion beat in the Spanish playoff, is one of several British golfers in the thick of the competition for a future US tour card.

Northern golfer Parry and the Bath duo of Jordan Smith and Laurie Canter also currently occupy spots that would yield a valuable opportunity for the coming season.

Certain analysts see this scenario as proof that the European circuit is now essentially a development tour for the larger circuit on the American continent.

However the DP World Tour maintain it is a crucial system that underpins their tour calendar, a necessary and enticing feature that maximises playing opportunities for its participants.

Certainly this is the season period where the realities and compromises of men's professional golf seem at their most evident.