The DP World Tour is this week poised to hit the LIV Golf rebels with unprecedented fines of up to £500,000 and, as a result, more big names including Ryder Cup greats are expected to resign their memberships.
All eyes will be on players such as Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey and Martin Kaymer to see if they are prepared to subject themselves to mounting punishments for playing in LIV tournaments without the permission of Tour chief executive Keith Pelley.
Former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace, another South African who made history at the 2017 Open by shooting the first 62 in the majors, are believed to be on the verge of handing in their cards.
Telegraph Sport revealed last week that Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio García had all quit the Tour in the wake of the arbitration hearing that gave Wentworth HQ the green light to sanction players who had joined the breakaway league.
While Westwood and Poulter paid the £100,000 penalties that 17 golfers incurred for teeing it up in last June’s inaugural $25 million LIV event in St Albans, García has so far refused to send in his cheque.
The Tour will take the legal route to claim the monies off García – the leading points-scorer in the history of the Ryder Cup – and it is understood that it is considering demanding that the trio also pay the sanctions for appearing in the 12 LIV tournaments that have followed since that opener 11 months ago.
However, the Tour could decide to avoid another legal dispute and announce that anyone who wishes to rejoin or play in future events must first settle their six-figure debts.
It is a complex situation made even more complicated by the fact that LIV has different deals with different players and seems to have paid the fines for some and not for others. It is believed that LIV transferred £700,000 to the Tour just before last Wednesday’s deadline but without stipulating the seven golfers for whom it was remitting.
Will the Saudi-funded league be willing to keep shelling out to a rival? “At the meeting the players held in the LIV event in Singapore [two weeks’ ago] a number made it clear that they wanted to retain their Tour memberships, but it is evidently going to be costly,” an insider said. “Some reports said the players could be hit with bills of £1 million each, but that was never likely. But the fines will be eye-watering, nevertheless, and could keep rising the more LIV events that they play in.”
Westwood told Telegraph Sport in an interview last week that he wanted “to move on” and not have the “cloud of Tour punishments hanging over me”. “I do hope that now I’ve resigned they won’t fine me again – I’m no longer a member,” he added. “I believe I have contributed greatly to the Tour in my 30 years as a card-holder.”
The 50-year-old accepts that, as things stand, he will not have any more involvement in the Ryder Cup, either as a player or as a vice captain or captain, and believes that “it’s a shame that Europe will lose the experience that Sergio, Ian and I have accumulated over the years”.
In contrast, the Americans are intent on including their Ryder Cup veterans – even the ones that have tasted more failure than success in the biennial dust-up. To the surprise of exactly no one, Zach Johnson, the US captain, announced on Monday that he has appointed Jim Furyk as one of his vice-captains for September’s match in Rome.
“Jim and I have been friends for more than 20 years,” said Johnson. “He’s an amazing leader, mentor and someone I trust.”
As a player Furyk appeared on nine successive US teams, winning just twice and in 2018, he was the losing captain in Paris.
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