LONDON — The DP World Tour will not allow any player who signs up to LIV Golf next season to be a member of its circuit in 2027, telling players they must "make a choice" over where they compete. The European tour has adopted a significantly tougher stance than in recent seasons, with membership essential to be eligible to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup. Deadlines for both tours fall in the next five weeks, despite continued uncertainty surrounding LIV Golf's future after it secured a possible $300m in financing as it attempts to restructure.
"Players need to make a choice," said Guy Kinnings, CEO of the DP World Tour. "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."
In previous years the DP World Tour struck conditional releases with top players — including Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton — enabling them to play on both circuits, with nine players granted such releases this season. Next year players will be asked to disclose which tours they intend to play on, and their answer will be taken into account when deciding on membership. Around 15 LIV players, including Rahm, Hatton, Victor Perez and Tom McKibbin, currently have "status" with the DP World Tour, while others such as Joaquin Niemann and Thomas Pieters do not and would need to go through qualifying school or sign invitation agreements — which will only be available to players who are not part of LIV in the future. The Tour has told BBC Sport it will not accept membership from anyone intending to play on what is being called LIV 2.0, and failure to disclose LIV intentions will be considered grounds for termination.
LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September as it attempted to restructure following the withdrawal of its multi-billion dollar funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, before announcing last week it had secured a possible $300m in financing from BC Partners Credit to try to move forward with the 2027 season. Under its court-supervised restructuring process, LIV must sign players by 25 October. Ted Goldthorpe, head of BC Partners Credit, told BBC Sport last week he was "confident" LIV would have a "critical mass" of players, but since then two-time major winner Rahm has said he will not continue on the LIV tour. Lawyers representing fellow major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith have sought clarification from the court that rejection of contracts would equate to "termination", enabling discussions with third parties, while Richard Bland is currently the only player to have stated publicly a desire to play on LIV 2.0, although Perez indicated last month he hoped there would be a future for the league.
The change for 2027 is understood to be predominantly down to LIV offering players equity in the future, which is viewed as incompatible with the European tour being a members organisation. It also comes as the DP World Tour's strategic alliance with the PGA Tour is being negotiated, a move likely to put itself in the best position possible in those discussions. The stance follows Rahm's exit from LIV Golf and Bland's commitment to LIV 2.0 ahead of the looming deadline.