Golf war intensifies as DP World Tour fines Asian Tour players over LIV events
- Another 26 golfers hit with fines of up to US$126,000 for each LIV tournament they played in without permission
- Players also could be slapped with bans from up to eight regular events if they remain European Tour members
The DP World Tour has stepped up its war with the Asian Tour, levying another series of hefty fines on golfers who have competed on both circuits over the past year.
Having previously handed out penalties of £100,000 (US$126,000) to 17 LIV Golf members who played in the league’s first two events without obtaining release forms, European bosses are now going after another 26 golfers, with fines ranging from £12,500 to £100,000 for each tournament played without permission.
In a statement released late on Thursday in the UK, the DPWT 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”.
Players also could face suspensions from up to eight regular European Tour events on the schedule if they pay their fines and remain members. Any suspension would not start until the Porsche European Open in Germany in June.
Asian Tour members such as Jazz Janewattananond and Kiradech Aphibarnrat are likely to have been targeted, while reports in Spain suggested that Adrian Otaegui, who has played on the DPWT this season and is ninth in the European points list for the Ryder Cup, had also been sanctioned.
According to local media, he was handed an undisclosed fine and suspended from four events. Otaegui’s crime was to play in three LIV Golf tournaments last year.
The European Tour said the punishments related to tournaments played between June 22, 2022 and April 2, 2023, the day before the independent panel ruled it had “a legitimate and justifiable interest” in enforcing its regulations with the imposition of sanctions such as fines and suspensions.
Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Richard Bland all resigned their European Tour memberships last week, and they have been joined by Henrik Stenson after the latest sanctions. More players are expected to follow suit.
Stenson, who was stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy after joining LIV’s Saudi-funded rebel circuit last year, told Golf Digest: “It is sad that it has come to this, but it is what it is and it certainly wasn’t unexpected. They left me with no other choice, so I have resigned.”
LIV Golf has pumped US$300 million into the Asian Tour’s International Series, which held its inaugural event in Newcastle last year and has two more tournaments scheduled this year in England and Scotland.
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The DPWT said that the players who had resigned would not be eligible for reinstatement unless they were to pay their fines, from which point their suspensions would start.
Since the Sport Resolutions decision, LIV Golf has played in Australia and this week is in Oklahoma. The European Tour said it would decide later on sanctions involving those two tournaments.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
