DP World Tour imposes sanctions on 26 players over LIV Golf events

The DP World Tour has confirmed that it has issued sanctions for players who breached the circuit’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation by competing in LIV Golf and Asian Tour events without releases to do so.

These events occurred in the period from June 22, 2022 to April 2, 2023 – the day before the independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions released its decision in relation to players competing without releases in the first two LIV Golf events last year at the Centurion Club in England and at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon.

In total, 26 players have now been informed individually of the sanctions applicable to them based on the specific conflicting tournaments they each played in, as a DP World Tour member, without being granted a release.

These sanctions include fines and, where appropriate, tournament suspensions. The sanctions imposed were determined on a case-by-case basis; acknowledging differences between the events in terms of the impact on the DP World Tour’s broadcast partners, sponsors and stakeholders.

The DP World Tour has imposed sanctions after winning an arbitration case against LIV Golf players. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

Where fines were issued to players they ranged from £12,500 to £100,000 for each individual breach of the Conflicting Tournament Regulation.

The total cumulative suspension imposed on any single player for breaches is a maximum of eight DP World Tour tournaments, comprising a combination of one or two-week suspensions.

The suspensions imposed relate to regular season DP World Tour events and will run consecutively, effective from the Porsche European Open from 1-4 June – the first tournament chronologically on the DP World Tour schedule whose entry list remains open as of Thursday.

In a statemenrt, the DP World Tour said: “Players who have resigned their membership will not be eligible for reinstatement unless and until they pay their fines and their suspensions will apply from then onwards.

"Further sanctions for breaches of the Conflicting Tournament Regulation in events which occurred subsequent to April 2, 2023, will be considered in due course.”

Four players – Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Richard Bland – have resigned as DP World Tour members while it was also announced last week that Garcia is the only one out of 17 LIV Golf players not to have paid the £100,000 fine imposed on those who played in the inaugural event without an official release.