DP World Tour boss Keith Pelley sets date for LIV Golf punishment decision
The DP World Tour joined the PGA Tour in a strategic alliance in 2020, however this has been tested by the emergence of the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley will make a decision in the next seven days on what punishment, if any punishment, to implement on players who played in the LIV Golf Invitational Series last week.
In a memo to the players, Pelley outlined that although the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour have a strategic alliance, they are "different organizations and our rules and regulations are therefore different too."
Pelley and the DP World Tour will continue to assess the impact that the events at Centurion Golf Club and the Asian Tour could have on the Scandinavian Mixed event last week and the BMW International Open next week.
Shortly after the first tee shots were hit in Hertfordshire last Thursday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suspended players who participated and who go on to participate in future LIV Golf events. The DP World Tour is set to announce a decision on June 23.
Pelley was rumoured to be on-site at the inaugural LIV Golf event last week, however, this has since proven to be "categorically untrue" by the DP World Tour.
"From many of your messages and my conversations, I know that many of you share the same viewpoint that Jay Monahan expressed in his note to PGA Tour members," Pelley wrote in a memo to the DP World Tour membership.
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"Namely that the players who have chosen this route have disrespected the vast majority of the members of this tour.
"Some members asked me why we simply do not follow what the PGA Tour has done and immediately suspend these players.
"While I understand the frustration, I remind you all that although we work closely with the PGA Tour, we are different organizations and our rules and regulations are therefore different too."
The DP World Tour are in an extremely interesting position. If they were to also suspend players who broke away despite having releases rejected, this would maintain their alliance with the PGA Tour but their fields could be weakened.
However, if they were to U-turn and not issue suspensions, the players who have been banned from the PGA Tour could use the old European Tour as a place to hang their hats, but the strategic alliance could be broken.
This could result in stronger fields and larger crowds in Europe if the likes of Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau were to play on the DP World Tour.
June 23 is a key date as this is the final day for players to commit to the Scottish Open, a co-sanctioned tournament by the DP World Tour and PGA Tour which currently has a world-class field lined up.
