DP World exec calls for unity between established tours and LIV Golf

The chief communications officer of DP World has called for golf's established tours to come together with LIV. 

Daniel Van Otterdijk told BBC Sport at the DP World Tour Championship that it is the only solution to end the split in the men's game. 

The PIF-backed LIV Golf launched in June 2022 after recruiting several PGA Tour winners and major champions such as Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. 

They remain banned from competing on the PGA Tour and, despite the optimism at the beginning of the year, it appears that no peace agreement will ever be struck between the rival tours. 

"The only solution to the golfing world is for all three major parties to come together," Van Otterdijk told Iain Carter. 

"That's LIV/Asian Tour, European Tour and the PGA Tour, because, if nothing else, golf fans want that."

American Scottie Scheffler has been the dominant force in men's professional golf since his breakout 2022 campaign. 

The four-time major champion has been the top-ranked player for 129 consecutive weeks and 163 overall. 

Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Russell Henley, J.J. Spaun, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin and Justin Rose are currently inside the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking. 

England's Tyrrell Hatton is the highest LIV Golf player in the OWGR at 20th.  

Data Golf suggest, based on performances that take into account results on LIV, that DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are still in the top-10. 

Van Otterdijk sees this as a problem and compared men's professional golf to boxing and claimed even some players must be feeling "a little hollow". 

"Scottie Scheffler is number one in the world," he said. "But is he? How do you know? You don't know.

"Where's Jon Rahm? Where's Brooks Koepka? Where's Bryson DeChambeau? 

"They could be number one, for all we know, if they played equal events, and they didn't have all the penalties and all the other nonsense that goes with it. Then it might be different. 

"It feels a little bit like the boxing world. You're the world champion at WBA. But not WBC. So is he better than you are?

"And it's only really when you're the unified world champion that you can claim that you're truly the world champion, right?

"Well, nobody can claim that right now. So even to the players it must feel a little hollow."

Van Otterdijk also expressed concern with golf's calendar. 

The PGA Tour dominates the schedule between January and September, before several high-profile players head to the Middle East.

"I can't say that we are totally enamoured with the schedule as it stands," he said.

"I'd like to see a more integrated tour throughout the year, with DPWT events popping up and more players playing on our tour, particularly the American players."

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