LIV Golf told a US bankruptcy court the DP World Tour’s 2027 membership stance is an attempt to interfere with its restructuring process.
LIV Golf has accused the DP World Tour of a “clear attempt to interfere” with its Chapter 11 restructuring, after the European tour said it would refuse 2027 membership to players who sign for the breakaway league.
Rob Fitzgerald, the Gibson Dunn attorney representing LIV, made the claim at a hearing in the US Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey on 14 October.
“We’re continuing to monitor this situation very closely and we’re quite concerned by it frankly,” Fitzgerald said. “The timing in particular strikes us as a clear attempt to interfere with our process with our players and potentially our reorganisation writ large.”
Fitzgerald said the policy raised “a lot of the same anti-competitive concerns” LIV had previously expressed about rival leagues seeking to “box out and punish” players who join it.
“Player freedom is the reason LIV Golf was created, and it’s the foundation of LIV Golf 2.0, a league built around its players,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that another tour is taking an opposite view and pressuring our players with false choice.”
Judge Michael B. Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, said: “The comments I have read do raise concerns.”
The DP World Tour declined to comment on Fitzgerald’s statements.
DP World Tour ends dual membership
The DP World Tour set out its position on 12 October, when Guy Kinnings, CEO of the DP World Tour, told BBC Sport: “Players need to make a choice.”
“We have rules and regulations which are there to protect our tour and which our members must all abide by. Players who are not willing to comply with our rules and regulations should not be seeking to join our tour.”
The tour granted conditional releases to nine LIV players this season, including Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, which allowed them to compete on both circuits. About 15 LIV players hold status in one of the DP World Tour’s membership categories, including Victor Perez and Tom McKibbin.
Players must now disclose which tours they intend to play in 2027. The DP World Tour can terminate the membership of any player who joins LIV without disclosing it, and players have until 16 November to sign up for next season, with only DP World Tour members eligible to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup.
BBC Sport reported the change is predominantly due to LIV offering players equity, which the tour considers incompatible with its status as a members’ organisation. The DP World Tour is also negotiating a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour.
LIV Golf faces 25 October player deadline
LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in September after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) withdrew its funding. The league announced last week it had secured up to $300m in financing from BC Partners Credit to stage a 2027 season.
Fitzgerald told the court LIV needs the BC Partners investment completed and a “sufficient number of players to have a bona fide golf league signed up by 25th of this month”. He said a decision on whether LIV proceeds or winds down would be made by the end of October.
Player contracts are being rejected under the restructuring, meaning no player is obligated to remain with LIV. The court rejected 19 contracts on Wednesday, including those of Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson. LIV owes players at least $45m (£33m).
Rahm said last week he will not continue with LIV. Richard Bland is the only player to have publicly said he wants to play in LIV 2.0.
Rory McIlroy said LIV was in “such a state of flux” and that the DP World Tour had been “more than accommodating” to players seeking to leave the league.
“The DP World Tour are well within their rights to change the rules and regulations,” McIlroy said at a press conference ahead of the DP World India Championship. “This is a way to protect their business and to make the tour as strong as possible.”
McIlroy told Bloomberg on Tuesday he would vote to readmit LIV players to the PGA Tour.
Patrick Reed, who left LIV in January and leads the Race to Dubai, said he had been accepted “from day one” after returning to the European tour full time.
“I can see how some of the guys would sit there and have an issue with guys coming over and just playing the big events,” Reed said. “I’ve come over and played everything from big events, small events, events in the middle.”
