Sanctions were finally announced for those DP World Tour players who abandoned ship for the LIV Golf Series. Players will not be allowed to participate in the 2022 Scottish Open and Barbasol Championship the week before the 150th Open Championship, as well as the Barracuda Championship from July 14-17, according to a statement from the DP World Tour. In addition to their playing schedules tightening, so will their wallets as each participant will be fined £100,000, which the tour will add to future prize funds and distribute to charitable causes.
“Every action anyone takes in life comes with a consequence and it is no different in professional sport, especially if a person chooses to break the rules. That is what has occurred here with several of our members,” said Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour. “Many members I have spoken to in recent weeks expressed the viewpoint that those who have chosen this route have not only disrespected them and our Tour, but also the meritocratic ecosystem of professional golf that has been the bedrock of our game for the past half a century and which will also be the foundation upon which we build the next 50 years. Their actions are not fair to the majority of our membership and undermine the Tour, which is why we are taking the action we have announced today.”
These three tournaments are co-sanctioned events between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, so this decision does not necessarily come as a surprise given the PGA Tour’s stance on LIV Golf. However, the DP World Tour has been decidedly slower to voice any opinion on the matter and this is not exactly laying down the hammer. In fact, LIV golfers Louis Oosthuizen, Pablo Larrazabal, Laurie Canter, Adrian Otaegui, Wade Ormsby, Oliver Bekker and Kaymer are all in the field for the BMW International Open this week on the DP World Tour.
There are numerous players who jumped to LIV Golf from the PGA Tour and were expected to play at the Renaissance Club from July 7-10. Brooks Koepka was officially in the field, and Bryson DeChambeau had plans to add the event to his schedule in preparation for The Open. DP World Tour staples Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Richard Bland and Martin Kaymer played in the event last season and had eyes to do so again in 2022.
Details of the strategic alliance between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were first made public in August 2021. Nearly a year later, it appears to at least be fractured. There have also been rumors of a potential purchase of the European circuit with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Investments both considering their options.
While the DP World Tour has aligned itself with the PGA Tour for this trio of events, it remains to be seen whether it will consistently stand alongside their American counterpart in the future.
