A LIV Golfer Is Headed Back to the DP World Tour. Here’s How That’s Possible

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger is officially headed back to the DP World Tour after losing his LIV Golf contract.

Bernd Wiesberger, a former LIV Golf member, is headed back to the DP World Tour after his contract ended on the Saudi-funded series.

Wiesberger, 38, first joined LIV in 2022 where he was drafted as a member of Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks. He played in LIV’s maiden series and completed a full 2023 season, but didn’t post the results to secure his contract for the 2024 circuit, finishing 41st in the cumulative standings. The top 24 players in LIV’s season-long rankings earned guaranteed opportunities for next season. 

The Austrian pro therefore became a free agent in LIV’s new player movement period, and it appears that he was not offered a renewal. 

Subsequently, Wiesberger announced that he will be playing a full schedule on the DP World Tour next year, despite being suspended since joining the team-format breakaway league. The DP World Tour has a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour. 

“I am happy to announce that my focus for next year will entirely be on the DP World Tour,” he wrote. 

UPDATE SEASON 2023/2024 pic.twitter.com/L90gieTMMY

— Bernd Wiesberger (@BWiesberger) November 23, 2023

But how is Wiesberger’s move possible? 

It turns out that several factors contributed to his ability to rejoin DP World Tour. First, unlike several LIV players, Wiesberger never resigned his DP World Tour membership, as he wrote in his shared statement. That meant that every time Wiesberger teed it up in a LIV event, he was sanctioned with significant fines from the DP World Tour for breaching its rules about playing in conflicting events. (In April, the DP World Tour won an arbitration case that allowed it to impose £100,000 fines on members who played in LIV events.)

Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson gave up their DP World Tour memberships to avoid such fines, but Wiesberger held on to his—and LIV ultimately helped him with the financial repercussions. 

According to a Telegraph report, those fines added up to approximately £1.5 million throughout the 22 LIV events he participated in. LIV reportedly paid the sum on Wiesberger’s behalf when he requested to rejoin his home tour.

The DP World Tour released a statement on Thursday explaining that Wiesberger simply had to pay his fines and serve his suspension to be reinstated—both of which he has now done, with LIV’s assistance. 

“Wiesberger’s membership ceased, and he was removed from the Race to Dubai, after he failed to comply with the Tour’s minimum counting event regulation for the 2023 season, having played in only two counting tournaments—the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

“He subsequently expressed his desire to play a full DP World Tour schedule in 2024 and has fulfilled all sanctions—both financial and tournament suspensions—that were imposed upon him for breaches of the Tour’s conflicting event regulation across 2022 and 2023.

“Consequently, his request for reinstatement has been granted by DP World Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley, in accordance with the procedure set out in the Members’ Regulations,” the statement read. 

Additionally, Wiesberger is exempt on the DP World Tour and won’t need to earn back his status. The Austrian qualifies through the top-40 money-earner category, so he can start playing a full schedule right away.

Wiesberger has won 12 professional events including eight on the DP World Tour. He is ranked 32nd on the career money list with over £15.5 million. 

The former Scottish Open champion will tee it up at the Dubai Desert Classic in January, as he makes his first start back on the tour where he initially found so much success.