LIV Golf turns off tap on fines
League will no longer cover DPWT fines, which could impact future Ryder Cup hopefuls
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton could be impacted when appeals run course (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf)
LIV Golf has told its players who compete on the DP World Tour that it will no longer pay the fines associated with playing in conflicting events, which can potentially impact their future participation in the Ryder Cup.
Although this year’s matches at Bethpage Black will not be affected because those who have not paid fines have appealed — with a hearing to be held later this fall — it will create a possible impasse for some players going forward.
The Telegraph reported the change by LIV Golf and estimated the league has paid the DP World Tour more than $20 million in fines since they were first instituted as penalty for competing in LIV Golf events that conflict with the European tour’s events.
A source told Sports Illustrated that the move by LIV Golf is true although the league has yet to comment.
The two players this impacts potentially the most are Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, both of whom are all but locks to play for Europe in September. Both players appealed their fines last year and are allowed to compete in DP World Tour events pending the outcome.
Hatton won the Dunhill Links Championship last fall and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year. With his strong play in the majors and No. 21 Official World Golf Rabkins, the Englishman is set to qualify via one of the top six spots on the team automatically. Rahm is all but certain to be an at-large pick by captain Luke Donald.
In the spring of 2023, the DP World Tour won an arbitration case in a UK court which upheld the tour’s ability to fine players for playing in conflicting tournaments. That ruling suggests the player appeals will be denied.
Unlike the PGA Tour — which doesn’t allow its players to compete in LIV events at all and suspends any players who do — the DP World Tour has a suspension and fine system in place that varies by event. The figures are not disclosed. Sergio Garcia, for example, paid his fines earlier this year, allowing him to compete in the BMW International Open in Germany last month.
If the players who are playing under appeal are denied, they’d in theory be expected to pay their past fines plus those they’ve accumulated.
Rahm made it clear last year prior to the deadline for entering the Spanish Open that he would not be paying.
“I’m not a big fan of the fines,” he said prior to last year’s LIV Chicago tournament. “I think I’ve been outspoken about that. I don’t intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.
“I’ve said many times, I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it’s my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande (the Andalucia Masters).
“At that point, it would almost be doing not only me but Spanish golf a disservice by not letting me play, so yeah, that’s why we’re trying to talk to them and make that happen. I would also love to play the Dunhill (Links Championship in Scotland). I have a good friend who asked me to play, and Johan (Rupert, the event organizer) has been has been a great, great ambassador for the game of golf. I would love to be able to play all those events.’’
Rahm’s account does not square with the DP World Tour’s account of the situation at the time. A spokesman then explained that the rules have been presented to Rahm and his representative. Fines and suspensions differ by player and event.
Eventually Hatton and Rahm appealed their fines which continues to let them play.
Their stance has been that the DP World Tour should drop the fine structure as it is hurting their own events.
But if they did drop the fine plan it would likely cause other problems, according to The Telegraph story.
“There would be outrage if the tour caved in,” one source told The Telegraph. “The point is that the tour fully expected the peace negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Saudis to have been settled by now, so they kicked this can down the road happy in the belief it wouldn’t matter. But with no deal in the pipeline — anything but, in fact — there is a huge problem looming.
“And at this point, unless the impasse between the two parties is broken, or the tour changes its rules or even quits the strategic alliance with the PGA Tour and rows in with the Saudis, it is inevitable that the Europe Ryder Cup will be weakened for the match in Ireland in 2027. These are uncertain times and there is a lot of angst about what happens next.”
Joaquin Niemann won the UK event for his fifth LIV Golf victory of the year and could potentially be impacted, too, as he has made a point to try and play DP World Tour events. He was in the top 25 in last year’s Race to Dubai, which earned him a spot in the Open, for example.
Of course, with five $4 million paydays on LIV alone — plus he’s in a line for a big season-ending bonus — Niemann can afford the fines.
Lottie Woad is the hottest woman in professional golf already (Courtesy LET via Getty Images)
Woad launches LPGA career in style
If you thought Rose Zhang’s professional launch was something, Lottie Woad may be setting a new standard.
Woad — who like Zhang before her was the No. 1 female amateur in the world and winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur — won the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three strokes in her professional debut, the first to do so since Zhang in 2023. They were each the first to do so since World Golf Hall of Famer Beverly Hanson in 1951.
Hanson won an LPGA Tour event as an amateur in 1950. Woad won an LET (Ladies European Tour) event only two starts ago at the KPMG Women’s Irish Open where she won going away by six strokes over the professional field. The next week she finished one shot out of a playoff in the Amundi Evian Championship, one of the LPGA’s five majors.
Before her debut, Woad had already climbed to No. 64 in the Rolex Rankings, which is the second-highest ranking for an amateur (after Lydia Ko) since the system debuted in 2006.
In the Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links, Woad was paired with women’s world No. 1 Nelly Korda in the first two rounds and beat her by a shot each day to stake herself to a lead she never relinquished. Woad shot rounds of 65-67-65-68 to finish 21-under par — three ahead of major winner Hyo Joo Kim and eight better than Korda, who finished fifth.
In the last month, Woad forfeited approximately $78,000 after winning the Irish Open and another $547,000 after finishing tied third at the Evian due to her amateur status. This time, she got to bank her winner’s check of $300,000.
“I don’t even know what the winner’s check is, but yeah, I mean, a lot of people have obviously talked about me not winning any money,” said Woad, who gave up her senior year of eligibility at Florida State after earning her LPGA Tour card via the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway.
“It is very special to win in my first event,” she said. “You know, everyone was chasing me today, and I managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots, which is nice.
“I mean, it might have looked less stressful than maybe it was at times, but I think I only had like three bogeys, which, I mean, the wind wasn’t too bad the first few days. But on links golf, it’s definitely about bogey avoidance. That was probably the key to winning.”
The 21-year-old Woad, who had never played Dundonald Links before posting four rounds in the 60s, hails from Farnham, Surrey, England.
“It’s been great. Never been here before,” she said. “The course is amazing, in great condition, and played different every day with the different wind directions. It was a nice challenge and everyone here has been so kind.”
This week, Woad will try to keep her roll going at the final LPGA major of the season in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. Woad won the Smyth Salver as low amateur in last year’s Women’s British Open by finishing T10 at St. Andrews.