It’s claimed LIV Golf has notified its players that it will cease to cover the DP World Tour fines accrued from participating in rival tournaments.
This year, nine LIV Golf stars, including Ryder Cup stars Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm, re-joined the DP World Tour. Since its inception in 2022, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league has enticed players to switch sides by promising to pay the fines they incur from the DP World Tour.
The Telegraph reports that LIV Golf has shelled out roughly $20.3 million (£15 million) in financial penalties from the European circuit. The breakaway league could also be liable for an additional $10.8 million to $13.5 million if Rahm and Hatton’s appeal against outstanding fines doesn’t succeed.
Given the ongoing appeal, Rahm and Hatton won’t be prohibited from competing in this year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. However, LIV Golf’s recent policy change could pose a significant hurdle for its players wishing to compete in the biannual tournament.
At last year’s LIV Chicago event, Rahm expressed his dissatisfaction with the DP World Tour’s fines and refused to pay them ahead of the Spanish Open.
“I’m not a big fan of the fines,” he conceded. “I think I’ve been outspoken about that. I don’t intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.
“I’ve said many times, I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it’s my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande [the Andalucia Masters].
“At that point, it would almost be doing not only me but Spanish golf a disservice by not letting me play, so yeah, that’s why we’re trying to talk to them and make that happen.
“I would also love to play the Dunhill [Links Championship in Scotland]. I have a good friend who asked me to play, and Johan [Rupert] has been has been a great, great ambassador for the game of golf. I would love to be able to play all those events.”
In a firm letter delivered to Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings, Rahm’s representative emphasized that his client “has no intention of paying any fines.”
He subsequently argued that Rahm and other LIV Golf players should be permitted to “play on the DP World Tour without concern for pending penalties, with some of the best players in the world in some of his favorite countries and in front of the incredible European fans.”
Should the DP World Tour eliminate their penalty system, one source cautioned there would be “outrage” among those who remained loyal and didn’t jump to LIV Golf.
“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,” the source told The Telegraph. “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.”
