LIV Golf to stop paying DP World Tour fines for players, per report
Telegraph Sport reported Thursday that LIV Golf has informed its players it will stop paying DP World Tour fines for its players to remain members on the circuit. That change will take effect next season.
It's pivotal for a couple reasons, but it has large ramifications for the Ryder Cup. Members of the European squad must be DP World Tour members. Players on LIV Golf, like Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk and Tom McKibbin, have maintained their DP World Tour membership due to LIV Golf paying the fines.
Former DP World Tour golfers competing for LIV Golf are in violation of the DP World Tour's conflicting events policy, which requires a release to play elsewhere. In April 2023, the Tour won a U.K. arbitration case that allows it to enforce the penalties. That means if players want to compete on the DP World Tour, they'll have to pay a fine, among other penalties. Rahm and Hatton are currently appealing that decision.
Telegraph Sport reports the league has dished out 15 million euros, with another 8 to 10 million euros due in outstanding fines. The hearing on the appeal will take place after the Ryder Cup in September, making them eligible to play.
Rahm's manager, in a letter to Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings, said Rahm 'has no intention of paying any fines," per the report.
A source also told Telegraph Sport, "There would be outrage if the Tour caved in. 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.'
LIV Golf is playing its 11th event of 14 in 2025 this week at LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf & Country Club.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
32 minutes ago
- Newsweek
LIV Golf Star Reveals 'Fractured' PGA Tour System After 5-Year Ban Shocker
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. For years, there has been a lingering question in professional golf: What happens when LIV Golf pros want to find their way back to the PGA Tour? Would they be welcomed? Penalized? Or quietly reinstated under new terms? Hudson Swafford, a 37-year-old ex-LIV Golf pro and three-time PGA Tour winner, appears to have found the answer the hard way. The American golfer recently appeared on the "Subpar" podcast and revealed that he's been handed a five-year suspension by the PGA Tour, barring him from competition until 2027. The decision, he says, came after months of silence and uncertainty from Tour officials. PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 17: Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA TOUR, looks on during the trophy presentation after the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass... PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 17: Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA TOUR, looks on during the trophy presentation after the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 17, 2025 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by) More Getty Images Swafford, who joined LIV Golf in its inaugural 2022 season, played all seven events that year and returned last year (2024) as one of two wildcards. Unfortunately for him, despite competing in all 14 tournaments last year, he finished 55th in the individual standings and ultimately failed to qualify through LIV Promotions. With his contract expired and no playing rights on either tour, Swafford attempted to return to the PGA Tour last season. But the response wasn't what he expected. "I know they're basing that on a couple of people's contracts being up after the '26 season," Swafford told "Subpar" hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. "So then they can kind of change rules in favor of everybody coming back." "I know some guys who didn't have any status on the PGA Tour, it's a hard one-year (suspension), not PGA Tour-sanctioned events, but then you can come back and play," he added during the same interview. "But problem is if I come in and talk to them, it's like, 'OK, I can come back and play in '27 (2027), but what does '27 on the PGA Tour really look like?' The ex-LIV Golf pro believes the timing of the suspension is no coincidence According to Swafford, several high-profile LIV contracts, including those of Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, are set to expire at the end of 2026, and the PGA Tour may be positioning itself to reintegrate top talent under revised rules. PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 02: Hudson Swafford gestures during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational - Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on February 02, 2024 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo... PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 02: Hudson Swafford gestures during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational - Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on February 02, 2024 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by) More Getty Images Still, he's skeptical about what the PGA Tour will even look like after these five years. "They're already reducing fields. So I would go ahead and bet and say that the past champions category is pretty much done going forward after this year." "We can agree or disagree, but it just seems like that and they've kind of told me," Swafford expressed on Subpar. The 37-year-old pro's journey with LIV wasn't without controversy. He was part of the 11-player antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in 2022, alongside Talor Gooch and Matt Jones. Their request to play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs was denied, and all parties eventually withdrew. The legal battle ended with the 2023 framework agreement, but tensions between the tours, as seen, remain unresolved. "We knew there would be some repercussions," Swafford said in the podcast, later posted on YouTube. "Didn't know how long. I didn't think it would be this fractured this long." He continued, "I still think it needs to come together. I don't know how it's going to come together. As a golf fan, you want to see the best playing together. I don't think this fracture is good for the game. But on the flip side, the PGA Tour needed to be shanked up a bit." Even Rory McIlroy, once LIV's fiercest critic, admitted earlier this year that the PGA Tour should've been more open-minded in its approach to the LIV Golf deal. His comments, made during an interview at "How Leaders Lead with David Novak" podcast, echoed the growing sentiment that the sport's division has dragged on too long. Swafford voiced frustration with LIV's decision to withdraw its OWGR application LIV Golf withdrew the OWGR application under former chairman Greg Norman's reign. The application was filed again by the Saudi-backed club under Scott O' Neil before this year's Masters. "We came over here on the consensus that you were going to fight for us... and then we just throw our hands up like 'oh well, we didn't get it.' That's kind of bull----," Swafford exclaimed in front of Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. He recalled a conversation with Peter Dawson, former OWGR chairman, who supported LIV's global reach but questioned its credibility due to the lack of a clear relegation system. "He said 'If there was a true cut-off and everybody abided by those rules and you had to go to like a Q-School, then the talks would be real.' "He said 'LIV is not personally for me' because he's a traditional golf guy, but he goes 'I love that there's new competition and that it's travelling around the world.' According to reports, LIV CEO Scott O'Neil expects negotiations to begin soon, though upfront payments will no longer be part of new deals. Whether the PGA Tour will revise its stance by then remains to be seen. More Golf: 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship: odds, predictions for the playoff opener
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Peter Malnati is 'very concerned' after Rory McIlroy opts to skip first FedExCup Playoffs event
The FedExCup Playoffs are getting started in Memphis, but Rory McIlroy is taking the week off. While that's not something that's going to impact his postseason status whatsoever — McIlroy is entering the playoffs firmly in second in the standings, and will qualify for the Tour Championship regardless — at least one PGA Tour player board member isn't happy that McIlroy isn't at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. 'Very concerned,' Peter Malnati told Golfweek on Tuesday, adding that there may be 'stuff in the works' to try and prevent golfers from skipping postseason events in the future. The PGA Tour adjusted its playoff format slightly this season to remove the starting strokes format at the Tour Championship. This year, the 30 golfers who make it to East Lake will all start at even par. That, though, was the only change and left golfers the ability to skip events of their choosing. Since McIlroy entered the postseason with 3,444 points in the FedExCup race and only trails top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, he has absolutely no need to play in the first playoff event. He doesn't really need to play in the BMW Championship next week either, if he didn't want to. Even if he drops a few spots in the standings, he'd still enter the Tour Championship on even footing with the rest of the field. If anything, the format change to the Tour championship made the decision to skip the first tournament that much easier. McIlroy has won three times on Tour this season, most recently at the Masters — which made him just the sixth golfer in history to complete the career grand slam. He's had eight top-10 finishes this season and missed only a single cut while earning more than $16 million in prize money alone. He's going to play in several international, non-Tour events later this year, too. He also told The Telegraph last fall that he'd not be competing, so the move shouldn't come as a surprise. "I'll probably not play the first playoff event in Memphis," he said in November. "I mean, I finished basically dead last there this year and only moved down one spot in the playoff standings." Though Malnati wasn't too thrilled, Webb Simpson, who is also a player director on the Tour board, doesn't have an issue with McIlroy skipping this week. After all, Simpson did the same thing back in 2020. 'I knew I couldn't fall more than one spot and I thought losing one stroke at East Lake was worth a week of rest because I was toast,' he said. 'I don't know Rory's reason but I totally get it. It's a hard to thing to fix.' Simpson and McIlroy are far from alone here. Tiger Woods, for example, skipped the first playoff event in 2007 and then won the second two tournaments to win the inaugural FedExCup. Jim Furyk also won the FedExCup in 2010 while missing a tournament. As for implementing some sort of 'Rory rule' and forcing golfers to play, Simpson doesn't think that's very possible either. 'I think it's too hard of a thing to make guys have to play,' Simpson said. 'We're still a sport where you can play when you want to play.' McIlroy's absence this week certainly isn't the best look for the Tour as it kicks off the postseason, and it's unclear if new Tour CEO Brian Rolapp will move to actually implement some sort of rule to fix that in the future, but the FedEx St. Jude Championship will go on as scheduled. It'll just have a 69-man field instead of the full 70. And in a few weeks, McIlroy will have just as good of a shot as any to claim what would be his record fourth FedExCup. His absence this week will simply be a things of the past.
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
FedExCup Playoffs need more 'volatility'
Ryan Lavner, Rex Hoggard, Todd Lewis, and Eamon Lynch dive into several topics ahead of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, including PGA Tour scheduling, FedExCup Playoffs structure, and Ryder Cup storylines.
