Ian Poulter’s LIV Golf career is hanging in the balance with the Englishman currently in the Drop Zone heading into the final individual event of the season this week in Indianapolis.
The Ryder Cup legend joined the Saudi-backed breakaway tour in 2022 as a co-captain of the Majesticks GC franchise alongside fellow Ryder Cup stalwarts Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson.
If Poulter does not finish at least inside the top 24 this week his fate will be sealed for now, with LIV Golf reporting that he has just a 6.4% chance of avoiding relegation.
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If he does indeed end in the Drop Zone, the question will turn to what’s next? He would still remain as an owner of the Majesticks team but without a LIV card.
Relegation does not automatically mean the end of what has been an illustrious 30-year playing career, though.
Here are some potential scenarios if he loses his LIV card this week…
Return to LIV Golf?
Last year, Bubba Watson and Branden Grace were both relegated but were brought back onto their teams due to a rule that allowed players to keep their places if there was a ‘business case’ for their returns.
That, it seems, does not apply this year with new CEO Scott O’Neil at the helm and another application in with the Official World Golf Ranking to be sanctioned for points – which is believed to require LIV to have an official relegation policy with no gray areas.
That doesn’t spell the end of the road for Poulter in LIV Golf, though, as he would still have two remaining avenues.
The first of those is via the International Series ranking, where the top player earns a full LIV Golf card for next season.
The Asian Tour series is backed by LIV Golf and features 10 elevated tournaments around the world.
There have been four events so far this year, with six more to come between October and November. Poulter would likely play in the majority of those if he were to get relegated and was set on earning his status back.
International Series remaining tournaments:
Indonesian Masters, Oct 2-5International Series Cambodia, Oct 9-12International Series Philipines, Oct 23-26Hong Kong Open, Oct 30-Nov 2Singapore Open, Nov 6-9Saudi International, Nov 19-22
Poulter’s other route back to LIV Golf would be via the Promotions Event in December, where the winner earns a card for next season.
Details of the 2025 event have not been confirmed yet, with last year’s tournament at Riyadh Golf Club being won by Chieh-po Lee – the Taiwanese player who has played as a wildcard this season.
Asian Tour
If Poulter does lose his spot on LIV Golf and fails to earn his way back, the most likely route would be to see him playing on the Asian Tour.
He turns 50 in January so it would be highly unlikely to see him play a full schedule, but he may opt to compete on the International Series to try and earn back his LIV card.
DP World Tour
Poulter resigned his membership with the DP World Tour in 2022 so the chances of him returning to the European circuit seem slim.
To rejoin, he would need to pay his outstanding fines in the same manner that Sergio Garcia did last year to keep his Ryder Cup hopes alive.
The Englishman could possibly have his fines paid by LIV Golf – although he ruled out a return last year in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
“I personally wouldn’t pay because I felt it was unjust at the time to be fined $100,000 a week because it makes no sense to me at all,” he told SI.
“My stance has never changed. I’ve played golf all over the world. I was never paying fines by Europe for when I played outside of Europe on other tours around the world so my stance still today is exactly the same stance as I had three years ago.
“I still stand with the first words that I think it’s not right. It’s very unjustifiable.
“And if I personally wouldn’t pay the fines myself. why would I certainly put my business partner in that position to pay $2.4m towards a Ryder Cup that I’m actually not going to play in?”
PGA Tour Champions
With Poulter turning 50 in January, he would be at the age to qualify for the PGA Tour Champions.
The over-50s circuit is sanctioned by the PGA Tour, however, so he would be suspended until a year has passed after his final LIV Golf start.
This means that he could well be eligible to take up membership from September next year before playing a full season in 2027.
He could also go through US Senior Open qualifying, although he would not be eligible for the Senior Open due to it being co-owned by the DP World Tour.
