LIV players hit with fines and suspensions for breaching DP World tour rules
- Published
England's Lee Westwood (left) and Ian Poulter were two of the highest profile DP World Tour members to move to the LIV Tour
The DP World Tour has fined and banned 26 of its players who competed without consent in LIV and Asian Tour events.
The sanctions are based on individual cases with fines ranging from £12,500 to £100,000 for each breach and a suspension of up to eight tournaments.
Players that have resigned their membership will not be reinstated until they have paid their fine, from which point their suspensions would apply.
The sanctions relate to breaches in the period 22 June, 2022, to 2 April, 2023.
In April, an arbitration panel sided with the European-based tour in its legal battle against 12 players who had appealed against being fined £100,000 and suspended from the Scottish Open for playing in LIV Golf's inaugural event in June 2022 without permission.
Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland subsequently resigned their membership of the DP World Tour, with all but Garcia having paid the £100,000 fine.
This announcement details further sanctions imposed for playing in the seven other LIV events in 2022 and those contested before the arbitration panel's verdict was reached.
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 added that the suspensions would comprise "a combination of one or two-week suspensions" and only relate to regular season events, meaning players would be eligible to play in major championships.
The first tournament where the suspensions will be imposed is the Porsche European Open from 1-4 June, 2023.
The statement concluded: "Further sanctions for breaches of the conflicting tournament regulation in events which occurred subsequent to 2 April, 2023, will be considered in due course."