LIV can't buy its way out of DPWT rules

Tour turns down lucrative offer to lift sanctions; Europe's regrettable Solheim choices

DP World Tour said no to lucrative LIV offer to remove sanctions (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)

The DP World Tour plays its flagship tournament this week at the headquarter’s course outside of London known as Wentworth — the BMW PGA Championship, a longtime fixture on the schedule.

Perhaps nothing signifies more how the DP World Tour has aligned with the PGA Tour in that it moved its biggest event to the fall and out of a May time slot when it might have suited those whose interests reside more with the game played outside of the United States.

Another example of this “alliance” was made clear Monday when Sports Illustrated reported that the DP World Tour had declined a substantial monetary offer from LIV Golf that included various tournament concessions and playing opportunities in Asia in exchange for getting rid of the pesky sanctions that are dogging LIV golfers who want to compete in DP World Tour events.

That issue came to a head last week when LIV’s Jon Rahm wavered on a deadline to appeal sanctions that would allow him to play in next week’s Spanish Open, an event he all but needs to play in order to remain eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup.

Rahm and his representatives are against paying the fines — believed to be in excess of $1 million at this point — not because of the money itself but due to the roadblocks that are in the way of golfers competing in events in which the DP World Tour and sponsors actually want them to play.

Brooks Koepka has accepted a sponsor invite to play in the Dunhill Links Championship in October and other LIV golfers such as Patrick Reed will also be in Spain. Tyrrell Hatton, who appealed his sanctions, played the British Masters recently with the intention of getting in his required four DP World Tour events to remain Ryder Cup eligible.

LIV offered to work with the DP World Tour on not scheduling events opposite its biggest tournaments (as is the case this week as LIV has its season-ending team championship in Dallas), while providing DP World Tour players spots in each of the 10 International Series events with $10 million purses on the Asian Tour. It also offered cold, hard cash to the tune of more than $7.5 million.

The DP World Tour said no.

It cited sticking to its own rules that require releases for conflicting events and corresponding penalties to be levied for violations.

The DPWT also is beholden to the PGA Tour and the “strategic alliance” formed in 2021 that sees the PGA Tour subsidize DP World Tour purses. That is a huge financial commitment that the London-based tour doesn’t want to mess with.

Meanwhile, Rahm and Hatton are likely to lose their appeals anyway, so they’re likely to be in the same predicament whenever that is resolved.

As for the Spanish Open, Rahm ultimately decided he wanted to be there and was simply holding out hope that meetings between the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia last week might lead to some sort of resolution of the situation.

“I think I had that decision almost made, but you’re still waiting towards the end after hearing that there were certain meetings happening in New York that maybe things would change or not,” Rahm said.

“But it basically came down to, first, with the personal situation we have going on at home, I don’t know if it would have been the best for Kelley and I and our family to have to go through the stress of not playing in Spain and possibly jeopardizing the Ryder Cup, and two, the fact that I’ve always loved being able to go play in Spain and give back to the country that’s given me so much.

“It would have just felt wrong to not be at the Spanish Open. With the hopes that things are going to improve in the future, as well, it basically became pretty clear that I wanted to appeal, fulfill my requirements as a European tour member, and hopefully be able to qualify or be considered for Ryder Cup next year.”

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Euro captain Suzann Pettersen benched Ireland’s Leona Maguire in three team sessions (Stuart Wallace/LET)

Maguire benched: At what cost?

It’s always easy to second guess a captain’s decision in the wake of defeat in international team golf competitions. It’s less obvious to realize bad decisions are being made as they happen in real time.

Seeing Ireland’s Leona Maguire — Europe’s undisputed best player and sparkplug to the previous two blue-and-gold Solheim victories — riding the pine for three of the four team sessions was jarring. It looks ever worse after the Euro’s suffered a three-point defeat to the United States.

Maguire — with a European best record of 7-2-1 playing in all five matches in 2019 and 2021 — sat out all day on Saturday as the Euros were unable to make a dent in Team USA’s historic four-point lead (6-2) after the opening-day matches.

She was sent out in the penultimate of the 12 singles matches on Sunday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and did all she could in a decisive 4&3 drubbing of American Ally Ewing. The point kept Europe’s faint hopes of rallying from a 10-6 deficit alive, but the U.S. eventually walked away with a 15½-12½ victory — its first since 2017.

“I’ve never lived my life regretting any decisions,” said European captain Suzann Pettersen. “You’d rather play with your gut feel and your heart. Sometimes you get outplayed. There was a reason why Leona and the lineup in the back was what it was. We know what they’re capable of. We know what they’re facing. If we were going to have a chance at this, we needed all 12 players. It would have been nice to have an anchor like Leona in the back knowing she can take it and get it done.

“I mean, it’s a 12-woman team, and it’s always going to be hard to do the pairings. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get outplayed. Maybe we could have played other players that maybe could have faced different opponents that could have changed the outcome. You can always look back, but at the same time I don’t think we as a team have any regrets of what we did.”

Maguire might have a different viewpoint in the matter. Her Sunday match win was a much-needed result for Maguire to salvage what proved to be a brutal week for one of architects of Europe’s recent success in the biennial event.

Maguire, who was not a factor in her lone four-balls match with Georgia Hall on Friday afternoon, never trailed Ewing, breaking away from a tie through seven holes with birdies to win 8, 9 and 13 and closing it out with a par on 14. It was Maguire’s third straight decisive singles victory in three Solheim Cups, having beaten Rose Zhang 4&3 last year in Spain and Jennifer Kupcho 5&4 in 2019 in Ohio.

It was a redemptive tonic after getting benched in three of the four team sessions and buried deep in the singles lineup by Pettersen after having played in every session of her first two team appearances.

“Yeah, I felt like I played great golf today,” Maguire said. “I feel like I’ve been playing really great golf all week in practice, and it was a bitter pill to swallow to be sat out for as many sessions as I was, but I thought I got a point to prove today. And I love the Solheim Cup, I love match play, and I really wanted to deliver a point for the team today, and nice to do that.”

Pettersen got roasted on social media and grilled on site for her decision to bench Maguire all day on Saturday when the Euros needed a hero to step up. It doesn’t help that she sent out Sweden’s Linn Grant in four matches and got an 0-4 return on her services.

“Why was Leona left out yesterday for the entire day because a lot of people will be asking that question knowing how much she has contributed in the past to Solheim Cup?” Petterson was asked point blank.

“It’s extremely difficult to sit any players on this team. The way it turned out, that’s how it turned out,” she said.

“It’s always hard to sit great, great players, but where we sit we have to play the ones that are really playing well this week. … She’s a great teammate. Understands and she’s allowed to be disappointed. At the same time she has to believe in what the team is doing.”

Maguire lost for the first time in four-balls on Friday with Georgia Hall, 6&4 to the red-hot team of Nelly Korda and Megan Khang. She and Albane Valenzuela were the only two Euro players to sit out both sessions on Saturday.

Maguire remains undefeated in singles at 8-3-1 overall in Solheim play (Stuart Wallace/LET)

Maguire disappointment is what she called “captain’s decision” was apparent on Sunday, and she did the only thing she could do and win her point as Europe claimed its first session win of the week, 6½-5½, in the singles.

“She didn’t give much reason, to be honest,” Maguire said of Pettersen’s motives for sitting her down. “The feeling I got was that I was a little bit too short and didn’t make enough birdies, but I think proved today there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and I think I made plenty of birdies today.

“Captain’s decision. I’m a team player, and all I could do today was come out and win my point, and that’s what I did.

“Yeah, it’s Solheim Cup. I don’t need any extra motivation to go out and try to win my point, but yeah, there probably was a little bit extra there, not going to lie. But, ultimately, it’s what’s best for the team this week, and I would have loved the opportunity to try and deliver more points for the team, but I did what I could today.”

She might have been able to do more given the chance she seemingly earned through her past match-play successes including Solheim and Curtis Cup when she was the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world.

Will never know. Pettersen will have to live with her choices even is she claims no regrets. European fans aren’t likely to let her forget it.