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Rory McIlroy breaks new ground by playing in India this week as he returns to action for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

As the Northern Irishman expands his golfing horizons, the DP World Tour enters the final phase of this year's season-long championship. The world-class golfer is in pole position to secure the season-long title for the fourth consecutive year and seventh time overall.

There are only three additional tournaments following the India Championship; the following week's Genesis tournament in Korean venue - which concludes the second half of the schedule - and then the last two competitions in the Middle East.

These big money playoff tournaments in Abu Dhabi and the emirate are exclusively available for the leading seventy and then leading fifty in the standings.

But for the likes of Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, who are also in this week's field in India, there is reduced stress than you might imagine.

Sitting below the top 70, at first glance it would seem both require high finishes from their visit to the Indian course to extend their campaigns. Yet, in fact, they are guaranteed in advance of their places in the UAE and the final event.

This results from a rarely discussed but pragmatic loophole whereby members of Europe's Ryder Cup team are also considered eligible for the upcoming season finale events.

The English golfer, who triumphed in the American playoff series with his stirring victory at the season-ending event in Atlanta, lies 94th in the European tour's season-long table. Lowry, who made the winning stroke that secured the Ryder Cup, is one hundred fifty-fifth.

Other squad members who can potentially benefit are Aberg (seventy-second) and Sepp Straka (one hundred forty-seventh).

This might question the fairness of a playoff structure, which by nature is intended to bring cut-throat competitive jeopardy, but this scenario also demonstrates realities faced by the Wentworth-based DP World Tour.

The tour is dependent on major sponsors such as the title partner, who are also the naming sponsors of this week's event in the Asian nation. The tour requires 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 most successful campaigns, capped by his first win on US territory at East Lake just under two months ago.

Fleetwood represents one of the continent's superstars and, honestly, it would be inconceivable to host the upcoming season climax without him.

Common sense overrides pure competition, even though the top-ranked player - a local resident - has reserved his best performances for events that do not count on his home tour.

The Englishman has to date played only four DP World Tour events and been unable to finish in the top 20 at any of them; the Dubai Desert Classic, UK tournament, flagship event or pro-am competition.

The majors also count on the Race to Dubai and his sixteenth-place finish at the British Open was his sole high finish in the major events. But on the American-based circuit he achieved seven placements in the top five.

The European star was also the team's highest contributor at the New York course last month. It seems ridiculous for him not to be participating alongside the circuit's top performers at the end of the season.

Although in the previous era the American and European circuits were fierce competitors they are now closely connected thanks to the strategic alliance that underpins DP World Tour financial rewards.

While Marco Penge, recent champion of the Spanish Open, has moved into McIlroy's wing mirrors as his closest rival at the top of the season championship, much of the attention for the rest of the season will have an American bias.

The narrative will be shaped by the competition for 10 places on the American circuit for those who do not already have tour cards in the US. The rising star, with three European victories, is guaranteed of what is generally considered as advancement to the US circuit.

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

Meanwhile the English competitor, the man Penge defeated in the Spanish playoff, is one of several British golfers in the thick of the competition for a future US tour card.

Northern golfer John Parry and the Bath duo of Smith and Canter also currently occupy positions that would yield a golden ticket for the coming season.

Some observers view this development as evidence that the DP World Tour is now nothing more than a development tour for big brother on the other side of the pond.

But the DP World Tour argue it is a crucial system that supports their tour calendar, a essential and attractive element that maximises competitive chances for its members.

Undoubtedly this is the season period where the realities and compromises of elite golf competition seem at their most evident.