Report: LIV Golf pair settle $1.1m DPWT fines but Ryder Cup eligibility remains uncertain

Two European Ryder Cup legends have settled their outstanding fines with the DP World Tour for competing in conflicting LIV Golf events. 

Golfweek are reporting that Ian Poulter, 50, and Lee Westwood, 53, have finally settled the fines imposed on them for competing in conflicting events on the breakaway tour. 

The duo were among the first wave of players to be recruited by the PIF-backed league in 2022 and were fined heavily for doing so. 

They were part of a contingent of golfers who took the dispute to a sports arbitrator but resigned their memberships in April 2023 after Sports Resolutions UK sided with the Wentworth-based circuit. 

“We can confirm that Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have both settled the fines imposed on them for breaching our Conflicting Tournament Regulation," a DP World Tour spokesman told the publication. 

It clears the way for both players to re-join the European-based circuit in November but their Ryder Cup futures still remain far from certain. 

In 2017, the DP World Tour introduced a rule that prohibits golfers from taking up leadership roles on the European Ryder Cup team if they resign their memberships. 

Poulter and Westwood were expected to take over Ryder Cup captaincies in the future. 

It was assumed Westwood would take the reins from Sweden's Henrik Stenson following the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy and Poulter to take charge of the European team at Bethpage Black in September 2025. 

Stenson was stripped of the captaincy after he, too, joined LIV and Luke Donald was appointed the captain.

Donald subsequently masterminded European victories at Marco Simone and in New York. 

He will attempt to become the first captain to win three Ryder Cups in a row next September. 

Westwood and Poulter's decision to pay up now is interesting. 

It comes amid LIV's battle for survival. In April, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announced they were no longer willing to finance the venture after the conclusion of the 2026 season. 

LIV bosses are seeking some $350m to keep the league going in 2027, according to reports. 

Westwood and Poulter have been team captains of the all-English Majesticks since the very beginning of LIV Golf. 

They previously placed on record how they were unwilling to pay the fines. 

LIV previously covered all financial penalties imposed on its members but stopped doing so after the end of 2025.

"If I personally wouldn't pay the fines myself, why would I certainly put my business partner in that position?" Poulter previously said. 

Westwood previously said: “I'm not paying them because I disagree with the way they've been handed out."

In a Q&A on Instagram on 16 March, Poulter said he didn't believe the DPWT wanted them back. 

He said he had tried to "open talks" with the circuit officials but they hadn't responded. 

"Which is a shame as they do know what the Ryder Cup has meant to me through the years and how much I committed to them in the eight Ryder Cups I was part of," he said. 

Poulter and Westwood aren't the first players to U-turn over the decision to pay fines for competing in conflicting events. 

Spain's Jon Rahm was involved in a long-running dispute with the Tour. 

Like Poulter and Westwood, Rahm - who joined LIV in December 2023 - refused to pay the fines. 

But he is now eligible to compete in the 2027 Ryder Cup after striking a deal to end the stand-off. 

Rahm was offered the chance to end the dispute by playing in stipulated events on the DP World Tour but still refused. 

In the end, the two-time major winner backed down after both sides made concessions. 

"We were able to reach an agreement," he previously said. "There [were] concessions on both sides.

"I offered some, they extended an olive branch. That will not be a stress any more."

Rahm has made four Ryder Cup appearances, with Europe winning three of them - including the last two in Rome and New York.

In those events he was a stalwart for Donald and forged a formidable partnership with England's Tyrrell Hatton. 

They are unbeaten in five matches. 

Rahm has played 17 Ryder Cup matches, winning nine, losing five and halving three. 

He is undefeated in the foursomes, winning all six contests.

Poulter and Westwood also have glistening Ryder Cup records. 

Poulter made seven appearances for Europe whilst Westwood played in the biennial contest 11 times.