Henrik Stenson Rejoins DP World Tour After LIV Golf Relegation

Henrik Stenson is rejoining the DP World Tour

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 17 November 2025

Henrik Stenson has reapplied for membership of the DP World Tour.

The DP World Tour confirmed the news to Golf Monthly, as well as revealing that he has paid all his outstanding fines due to it for playing in conflicting LIV Golf events without permission.

The Swede has made the move following relegation from the big-money circuit at the end of the 2025 season.

Stenson, who had been a co-captain of the Majesticks GC team along with Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, finished 49^th in the Individual Championship, marking the end of his three-year career with LIV Golf.

When Stenson initially joined LIV Golf, it was particularly controversial because at the time, he had been named the Team Europe Ryder Cup captain for the 2023 edition at Marco Simone. However, shortly after the move, Stenson was stripped of the captaincy, with the honor going to Luke Donald instead.

Since embarking on his LIV Golf career, Stenson has played in just two DP World Tour events, the January 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic the following week, where he placed T8.

Henrik Stenson at the Dubai Desert Classic — Henrik Stenson hasn't played in a DP World Tour event since the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic

Stenson resigned from the DP World Tour in May 2023, a week after Poulter, Westwood, Richard Bland and Sergio Garcia also quit in the aftermath of the DP World Tour's win in a Sports Resolutions arbitration panel hearing, which deemed it had the right to sanction and fine its members for playing in LIV Golf tournaments without conflicting event releases.

Since then, Stenson has only played in world ranking events sporadically, on either the Asian Tour or at The Open, where he remains eligible to play thanks to his victory at the Major nine years ago.

As a result, he is now ranked 1165th in the world and will be hoping to rectify that situation from 2026, when he will be able to resume his DP World Tour career, starting with his 395th appearance on the circuit.

Even though Stenson intends to rejoin the DP World Tour, it is not yet clear if he has completely given up on his LIV Golf career. He still has the opportunity to try and earn a card via the LIV Golf Promotions event, which will be held in Florida in January.

If he were to pursue that opportunity and won his card back, he would find himself in a similar situation to Fireballs GC captain Garcia in 2025, who rejoined the DP World Tour a year ago to give himself the chance of making the European Ryder Cup team for the match at Bethpage Black.

That didn't work out for Garcia, while he also didn't in the minimum of four regular events outside of the Majors in 2025, causing his membership to lapse.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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