Report: LIV Golf To Pay £1.7m DP World Tour Fines

Following the DP World Tour's sanctions of those players who jumped to the LIV Golf Invitational Series, it has now been reported by The Telegraph that the Saudi-backed series will pay the £100,000 fines dealt out by the DP World Tour, in which 17 players broke membership guidelines.

LIV reportedly did not comment on whether they would provide the £1.7 million for the fines. However, according to one insider within the series, it has been confirmed that the group will honour assurances to those who took part in the first event in Hertfordshire.

Last week, the DP World Tour confirmed sanctions for the LIV Golf rebels, with the likes of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia banned from teeing it up in co-sanctioned DP World Tour and PGA Tour events. That includes this year's Genesis Scottish Open. Within those sanctions were the £100,000 fines, with players risking further sanctions for teeing it up in future LIV Golf events without permission.

One agent of a DP World Tour player, who also featured at Centurion, told the Telegraph Sport that he had yet to hear from LIV and was concerned because the Tour has given a 14-day deadline by which the fine must be paid. “We thought LIV would make a big play of this and come straight out and say, "don’t worry, we’ll handle this,” the agent said.

According to reports, it is understood that doubling the fine handed out to each player for each LIV event in which they appear was briefly discussed, but this would mean a total fine of around £20 million for those players who are entered into all eight tournaments, making it “a highly unlikely scenario”. 

Back in mid-June, Golf Monthly revealed that the PGA and DP World Tour were in 'advanced negotiations' to combat the Saudi LIV golf threat, with a deal being seismic for the game and perhaps officially formalise the strategic alliance between the two Tours. 

If that deal was agreed at board level, it would then need to be cleared by 75% of the PGA Tour membership. Golf Monthly understands a vote will be taking place within a month if approved by executives.