The DP World Tour will not let players who sign with LIV Golf next season hold membership in 2027. CEO Guy Kinnings confirmed the policy Monday in an interview with BBC Sport, ending the conditional releases that had allowed select LIV players to compete on both circuits.
“Players need to make a choice,” Kinnings said. “We have rules and regulations which are there to protect our tour and which our members must all abide by. Players who are not willing to comply with our rules and regulations should not be seeking to join our tour.”
Only DP World Tour members are eligible for Team Europe. That means any player who commits to LIV 2.0 cannot play in the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland, Sept. 17-19. Players have until Nov. 16 to apply for DP World Tour membership for next season.
Roughly 15 LIV players currently hold some form of DP World Tour status, including Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Victor Perez and Tom McKibbin. Unlike the PGA Tour, which has suspended LIV players since 2022, the DP World Tour had kept a path open for them. Earlier this year, Hatton reached a settlement with the tour, and Rahm paid his outstanding fines after a lengthy public dispute.
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Rahm’s attorneys told a New Jersey bankruptcy court last week that he does not want to be part of LIV’s future. The DP World Tour confirmed Monday that he will play the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship for the first time, Nov. 5-8. Hatton, who has made four Ryder Cup appearances for Europe, has not made his plans public.
Rahm is not the only one heading for the exit. Sergio Garcia was granted a release from his LIV contract, and fellow Spaniard David Puig has said he is no longer interested in playing for the league. Attorneys for Cam Smith, Matt Wolff and others have asked the court whether Garcia’s case sets a precedent for their clients.
Relations between LIV and the DP World Tour were already strained. In August, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said the league wanted to “complete, not compete” with the golf ecosystem, a comment that upset DP World Tour officials after LIV tried to lure away several of the tour’s tournaments and sponsors, according to Golf Digest. O’Neil also accused a DP World Tour leader of contacting LIV players, though later reporting indicated it was player agents who had reached out to the tour.
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LIV filed for bankruptcy protection in September after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund pulled its backing. New investor BC Partners Credit has committed up to $300 million to relaunch the league in 2027. Last week, BC Partners extended LIV’s player sign-up deadline to Oct. 25.
“We’re super committed,” BC Partners CEO Ted Goldthorpe said at a conference in London. “As [LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil] said, we’re going to start hiring back employees and planning for next year’s events. All systems go. The next 22 days will be about signing up the players, and I feel very good about that.”
The Telegraph reported that Bryson DeChambeau has been exploring his options with the DP World Tour. Joaquin Niemann does not currently hold DP World Tour status but could receive tournament invitations if he does not sign with LIV 2.0, according to Golf Channel.
The DP World Tour is also negotiating an extension of its strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, which has not allowed any crossover with LIV since 2022. LIV’s next bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
