Report: DP World Tour Wins Case to Keep LIV Golfers From Competing

The ruling means that LIV players maintaining DP World Tour membership, such as Ian Poulter and Patrick Reed, may not compete.

The DP World Tour appears to have won a significant legal ruling against LIV Golf.

According to a report in the Times of London on Tuesday, a decision will come down later this week that rules in favor of the DP World Tour and the Tour's ability to control its membership with fines and suspensions for participating in conflicting events without a release.

The decision by Sports Resolutions, a sports arbitration and mediation service in the U.K., may be the most significant blow to LIV Golf and players that have jumped to the fledging tour.

“It looks like it's not going to be announced until Thursday, so I don't know if I can comment on it too much,” Rory McIlroy said on Tuesday in his pre-Masters press conference. “But you know, if that is the outcome, then that certainly changes the dynamic of everything.”

Since the first LIV event last June, DP World Tour players have participated in DP World Tour events after the arbitration panel on July 5 issued a stay regarding sanctions against DP World Tour players that had jumped to LIV and effectively put any sanctions on hold until a three-judge panel could review the issue.

That five-day hearing took place in February 2023 in London with testimony from players and administrators alike.

A spokesperson for the DP World Tour issued the following statement about the report: “Out of respect for the confidentiality of the process conducted by Sport Resolutions, we will make no comment on any aspect of the arbitration until the decision is formally announced.”

Greg Norman, the CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, stated in a press conference last May that the Saudi-backed tour would support the players regarding any legal challenges, and they would be there for them.

“We are going to back up the players,” Norman said in May. “We are going to be there for them, for whatever that is. We’re ready to go.”

Norman went on to say that he told the players "we’ve got your back. We will defend, we will reimburse, and we will represent. Simple as that.”

Norman’s statement was and is widely understood to mean that LIV will pay any fines players incur from their former tours.