LIV Golf has been trying to get fines for its players who also compete on the DP World Tour either reduced or eliminated, and it appears those efforts are close to succeeding.
Although nothing official has come from either side, the social media account Flushing It reported Saturday that LIV players who compete on the DP World Tour have been contacted about a plan that would see no more fines for playing in conflicting LIV Golf League events.
There would be stipulations that require the players to seek a release to compete in a LIV Golf event along with asking them to commit to a certain number of DP World Tour events, the amount of which could differ by player.
The fines that have been accrued through 2025 will still need to be paid, however. LIV Golf has said it would stop paying those fines at the end of last year and that players would be responsible for them going forward. The amounts, which have not been publicly disclosed, may vary by event and time zone.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said in December that he had been working with the DP World Tour on a plan that deals with the fines, a situation that still appears to be in flux.
When contacted by Sports Illustrated, a spokesman for the DP World Tour said: “We continue to have dialogue with individual members involved to explore and discuss options.”
The LIV Golf League has not commented.
How this would impact players such as Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton, who appealed their fines in late 2024, is unclear. Neither player has paid their fines which are well in excess of $1 million each (Rahm has said his are around $3 million). Both have been allowed to compete while awaiting a hearing.
Some 18 months later, that hearing has yet to take place and it puts each player’s participation in the 2027 Ryder Cup in peril.
In order to play in the Ryder Cup, a player must be a member of the DP World Tour and compete in a minimum of four events outside of the major championships. If the ruling were to go against those players, they’d be required to pay the fines before they could play; Rahm has said he won’t pay them.
Playing in Dubai recently, Rory McIlroy said European Ryder Cup members have said they’d play for free and he called on Rahm and Hatton to step up and pay the fines to prove it.
“What the DP World Tour is doing is upholding its rules and regulations,” McIlroy said. “We, as members, sign a document at the start of every year, which has you agree to these rules and regulations.
“The people that made the option to go to LIV knew what they were. So I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”
In 2023, the DP World Tour prevailed in front of a UK arbitration panel which ruled that the tour was allowed to impose fines and suspensions for players based on its membership rules for conflicting events.
The DP World Tour is in the midst of a four-tournament run of events in the Middle East, where Patrick Reed won in Dubai—at the time he said he would use the prize money to pay his fine—before announcing this week that he is leaving the LIV Golf League and will rejoin the PGA Tour next year.
LIV Golf begins its 2026 season with the first of 14 events this week, with the first tournament beginning on Wednesday in Riyadh.
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