Ryder Cup heroes Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter resign from DP World Tour over LIV Golf sanctions
- Move comes in response to hefty fines the European tour imposed for playing on the new circuit
- Defiant DPWT says latest outcome of battle within golf is ‘a consequence of their own choices’
LIV Golf quartet Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland have resigned from the European tour instead of facing fines of £100,000 (US$125,000) for playing in the league without permission.
The foursome were among those who played the inaugural LIV Golf event outside London last June and violated the conflicting tournament regulation policy.
In a statement, the DP World Tour thanked the four players for their contributions – particularly Westwood, Garcia and Poulter for their roles in Europe’s dominance of the Ryder Cup.
“Their resignations, however, along with the sanctions imposed upon them, are a consequence of their own choices,” the tour said.
The decision stems from last month’s court ruling that a number of players committed serious breaches of the tour’s code of behaviour by playing in LIV last year.
That ruling allowed the tour to impose fines of £100,000. Instead of paying the fine, the four players chose to resign.
For Garcia, that probably means an end to his record run through the Ryder Cup, which dates to 1999 when he was 19. The Spaniard holds the record for most matches won (25) and most points contributed (28½) in nine appearances.
Poulter is best known for his performance at Medinah in 2012 when he made five straight birdies in a four balls match with Rory McIlroy, the spark that carried Europe to the greatest comeback by a visiting team.
Westwood spent 30 years on the European tour and remained devoted in the wake of so many stars joining the PGA Tour. He has 25 wins, won the points title three times and reached No 1 in the world toward the end of 2010. His 11 appearances in the Ryder Cup are the most by a European.
Westwood told The Daily Telegraph it was “a sad day”, but he “could not really see any other option with all the punishments hanging over me”.
The Englishman added that he doesn’t agree with the direction Keith Pelley, the tour’s CEO, and the board “and I want to move on”.
Other European players, such as Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer and Bernd Wiesberger, would need to pay the fine if they want to stay on tour.
McDowell has only played the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth since joining LIV, and Wiesberger played the Middle East swing while the European tour sanctions remained under appeal.
“As we have consistently maintained throughout the past year, the Tour has a responsibility to its entire membership to administer the member regulations which each player signs up to,” the tour’s statement said.
“These regulations are in place to protect the collective interests of all DP World Tour members.”
The tour said an update on other sanctioned players would be provided Thursday. The tour is at the Italian Open this week at Marco Simone, the course that will host the Ryder Cup later this year.
