Lee Westwood DP World Tour concerns after LIV Golf collapse, Digi Mart USA News: Lee Westwood is worried about the future of the Europe-based DP World Tour following the collapse of LIV Golf. The 53-year-old Englishman was among the high-profile players lured to LIV when the controversial Saudi-backed breakaway tour began in 2022.
LIV this week confirmed its intention to wind down operations after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) withdrew its financial support and potential new investors pulled out of a deal to back LIV continuing in a new form. LIV’s collapse is a boost for the USA’s PGA Tour, and Westwood’s former Ryder Cup team-mate Rory McIlroy agrees with DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings’ assertion that LIV aimed to “destroy” their European rivals.
However, Westwood questions how strong a position the DP World Tour now finds itself in. The former world number one expects PGA Tour boss to “play hardball” with its European counterparts and suggested that Europe’s top players may be better off playing on the Korn Ferry Tour, the US feeder circuit to the PGA Tour.
“LIV going out of business, some people will be disappointed and it might not be people that you immediately think of,” Westwood told BBC Sport. “The European tour, I’m not sure it’s such a big win for them.”
Although LIV players were banned from the PGA Tour, they could still play in some DP World Tour events, which Westwood felt gave them some “leverage.” However, he said, “now LIV’s out [of] the way, they’ve lost that.”
In July, the American and European tours extended their strategic alliance, which includes Annual Investment Payments (AIPs). Last year that figure was £59m.
The PGA Tour also gives tour cards to the top 10 finishers on the DP World Tour who are not already members, but Westwood believes “there are a lot of questions still to be answered” regarding the new terms of their alliance.
“If [the DP World Tour] want to continue having the PGA Tour bankrolling them, there are going to be some big asks from the PGA Tour,” Westwood added. “If I was [chief executive] Brian Rolapp running the PGA Tour, I would be playing hardball and making a lot of demands of the European tour if they expected me to finance it going forward.”
A spokesperson for the DP World Tour told BBC Sport that it remains in “a robust and healthy position with strong cash reserves.” The spokesperson said the tour’s progress was “remarkable” given the “havoc in the global golf market caused by an entity which took prize funds to an artificially high level” and what it described as “an entirely unsustainable economic model operating within a false economy.” The spokesperson added, “We look forward to the 2027 season and beyond for many reasons – not least because the player interest in competing on our tour has never been stronger.”
Westwood did not commit to LIV 2.0, as it was known, and is currently “unemployed” as he considers his future, but would have to serve a 10-tournament suspension if he opted to rejoin the DP World Tour.
The PGA Tour describes the Korn Ferry Tour as its “premier pathway,” with 20 cards on offer, and announced a new competitive structure in June with a Championship Series and a lower-tier Challenger Series. The Championship Series will feature a “limited series” of events co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour, which has so far announced the prize fund for just one event in 2027, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January.
“The PGA Tour put this ‘plan for the future’ in place and the DP World Tour is not mentioned a whole lot in that,” said Westwood. “[Rolapp has] already said that the Korn Ferry Tour is going to be the main route into the PGA Tour, which makes me think ‘what’s going to happen to the DP World Tour?'”
“I don’t think the DP World Tour has announced any prize funds for next year, which is slightly worrying, and what will prize funds look like from 2028 onwards? There are a lot of questions still to be answered in that strategic alliance partnership.”
The deadline for players to sign up as members of the DP World Tour next season is 15 November. Under the tour’s rules, Bryson DeChambeau has the opportunity to become a member next year because of his 2024 US Open triumph.
Non-members who win a major are given an exemption to join the DP World Tour; however, DeChambeau’s will expire if he does not use it this year.
Complex eligibility requirements mean players who formerly played on LIV and are considering the European tour fall into a number of different categories. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, for example, did not resign their DP World Tour memberships.
They have served sanctions and paid fines, meaning they can continue to play in 2027. In contrast, Sergio Garcia did resign his membership, but he can rejoin next season without serving any suspensions, having been sanctioned when he first joined LIV in 2022.
Westwood has paid fines but not served suspensions, hence the 10-tournament suspension he would need to serve if he opts to rejoin the tour.
