LIV Golf League: Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood among players hit with fines for breaching DP World Tour rules

26 players have been handed fines and bans by the DP World Tour for competing without consent in the LIV and Asian Tour events. Players who resigned their membership will not be reinstated until they have paid their fine and after which their suspensions will apply.

These sanctions are all based on individual cases with fines ranging from £12,500 to £100,000 for each breach and suspensions can be up to eight tournaments.

An arbitration panel in April sided in favour of the European-based tour in the legal battle against 12 players who had appealed their £100,000 fines and suspension from the Scottish Open for playing in LIV Golf’s inaugural event in June 2022 without permission.

Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Fracia and Richard Bland all resigned their membership of the DP World Tour with all but Garcia having paid the £100,000 fine. This latest news also comes after it was revealed that the aforementioned players would not be able to compete in the upcoming Ryder Cup due to their affiliation with the LIV Golf League.

What has been said?

A statement from the DP World Tour said the “sanctions imposed were determined on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging differences between the events in terms of the impact on the DP World Tour’s broadcast partners, sponsors and stakeholders.”

It also added that the suspensions would consist of “a combination of one or two-week suspensions” only relating to regular season events thus meaning players would still be eligible to play n major championships, such as the PGA Championship and US Open.

“The suspensions imposed relate to regular season DP World Tour events (i.e. excluding Major Championships) and will run consecutively, effective from the Porsche European Open from June 1-4, 2023 – the first tournament chronologically on the DP World Tour schedule whose entry list remains open as of today.

The likes of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Richard Bland and Sergio Garcia all resigned their DP World Tour memberships earlier this month in response to the arbitration ruling. "Players who have resigned their membership will not be eligible for reinstatement unless and until they pay their fines and their suspensions will apply from then onwards.

The statement ended with “further sanctions for breaches of the conflicting tournament regulation in events which occured subsequent to 2 April, 2023, will be considered in due course.”

Who are the 26 players?

No full lists of fines attributed to any players have been specificallly named but it can be assumed that figures such as Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey, Grame McDowell, Martin Kaymer and Patrick Reed will also have been included along with the aforementioned Lee Westood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland.