LIV Golf has informed its players that it will no longer be willing to pay DP World Tour fines to keep its members eligible after this year, according to James Corrigan at The Telegraph. This would put the future participation of LIV players in the Ryder Cup in jeopardy.
Corrigan reports that LIV have paid out approximately £15 million in fines thus far, with Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood among those who had their initial appeals against the fines turned down by the Sports Resolutions organisation. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are both in line for selection for the European side in this year’s Ryder Cup at New York’s Bethpage Black course in September, and the duo, along with other LIV recruits who’ve joined including Tom McKibbin, have also appealed against their sanctions with the hearing expected to take place later this year.
Should the resolution of this appeal mirror the one reached in 2023 – and precedent suggests it will – an additional sum in the region of £8 million would be owed and, should LIV follow through and refuse to pay it would render Hatton and Rahm ineligible for future Ryder Cups unless they paid their fines themselves which is something that Rahm’s manager has declared the two-time major winner is less than willing to do.
In a letter to DP World Tour CEO, Guy Kinnings, which Corrigan appears to have seen, he declared that the former world number one “has no intention of paying any fines” and that it would be in the DP World Tour’s best interests to have LIV players “play on the DP World Tour without concern for pending penalties, with some of the best players in the world in some of his favourite countries and in front of the incredible European fans.”
The major concern for the DP World Tour – in addition to the loss of revenue which these LIV fines have brought in – should they overturn their decision to penalise the players who joined LIV, is that it could cause major friction among the DP World Tour membership who have stayed loyal to the tour.
“There would be outrage if the Tour caved in,” one insider told Telegraph Sport. “The point is that the Tour fully expected the peace negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Saudis to have been settled by now, so they kicked this can down the road happy in the belief it wouldn’t matter. But with no deal in the pipeline – anything but, in fact – there is a huge problem looming.
“And at this point, unless the impasse between the two parties is broken, or the Tour changes its rules or even quits the strategic alliance with the PGA Tour and rows in with the Saudis, it is inevitable that the Europe Ryder Cup will be weakened for the match in Ireland in 2027. These are uncertain times and there is a lot of angst about what happens next.”
Paul McGinley is among those who would like to see LIV players remain eligible to play in the Ryder Cup, but he believes that the fines are warranted and would need to be paid.
“I’m in favor of them – if they want to play Ryder Cup – abiding by the rules of the European Tour,” he told Irish Golfer last year. “And the rules of the European Tour is that they’ve got to pay a fine. At the moment they’re appealing that and we’ll see what that appeal says.
“But as long as they abide by the rules of the European tour, because ultimately, LIV was a competitive tour that has taken a lot of venues and tournaments off the European tour, so they’ve damaged our business.
“So I think it’s only fair that the European tour, up to now, treat them as a competitive tour.”
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