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Rory McIlroy ventures into new territory by competing in India this week as he returns to action for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

While the Northern Irishman expands his golfing horizons, the European golf circuit enters the final phase of this year's season-long championship. The world-class golfer is in pole position to claim the season-long title for the fourth consecutive year and seventh time overall.

This includes only three additional tournaments following the India Championship; the subsequent week's Genesis tournament in Korean venue - which concludes the second half of the tour calendar - and then the last two competitions in the Arabian region.

These big money playoff tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are exclusively available for the top 70 and then top 50 in the standings.

But for players such as Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this tournament lineup in India, there is reduced stress than one would expect.

Sitting outside the top 70, at initial inspection it would appear both need high finishes from their visit to the Delhi Golf Club to keep alive their campaigns. Yet, in fact, they are guaranteed in advance of their positions in Abu Dhabi and the final event.

This results from a little publicised but pragmatic exception whereby members of the European squad are also considered qualified for next month's closing tournaments.

The English golfer, who triumphed in the PGA Tour's play-offs with his stirring win at the season-ending event in Atlanta, lies 94th in the European tour's annual rankings. The Irish champion, who sank the winning stroke that secured the Ryder Cup, is 155th.

Other European team-mates who can potentially benefit are Ludvig Aberg (seventy-second) and Straka (one hundred forty-seventh).

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

The tour is reliant on big backers such as DP World, who are also the naming sponsors of this current tournament in India. They need the biggest stars at their biggest events to validate the investment, which runs to substantial funding.

Fleetwood has enjoyed one of his most successful seasons, capped by his maiden victory on American soil at the Atlanta course just under two months ago.

He is one of the continent's elite players and, honestly, it would be unthinkable to host the upcoming season climax without him.

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

The Englishman has so far played only four European tournaments and been unable to place in the top 20 at any tournament; the Dubai Desert Classic, Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship or pro-am competition.

Major championships also count on the season standings and his sixteenth-place finish at the British Open was his only top 20 in the major events. However on the US tour he achieved seven placements in the top five.

Fleetwood was also Europe's top points scorer at the New York course last month. It seems ridiculous for him not to be participating with the circuit's top performers at the end of the season.

Although in the past the PGA and European tours were fierce competitors they are now closely connected thanks to the strategic alliance that underpins European tour financial rewards.

As Marco Penge, recent champion of the Spanish Open, has positioned himself in close pursuit as his nearest challenger at the top of the season championship, much of the interest for the rest of the season will have an American bias.

The narrative will be driven by the scramble for ten spots on the American circuit for those who do not currently possess playing rights in the United States. Penge, with three DPWT wins, is assured of what is generally considered as 'promotion' to the American tour.

The Lancashire golfer, who also secured invites to the Augusta National and British Open with his Madrid victory, is not in the tournament lineup but will launch a last effort to try to overtake McIlroy at the top of the standings.

And Dan Brown, the player the champion defeated in the Madrid play-off, is one of several British golfers in the midst of the competition for a future US tour card.

Yorkshireman Parry and the West Country pair of Jordan Smith and Canter also presently hold positions that would provide a golden ticket for the coming season.

Certain analysts view this development as evidence that the DP World Tour is now essentially a feeder for big brother on the other side of the pond.

But the organization maintain it is a crucial system that underpins their tour calendar, a essential and attractive feature that optimizes playing opportunities for its participants.

Certainly this is the time of the year where the realities and compromises of elite golf competition seem at their most evident.