LIV Golfers Invited Into Next Week's DP World Tour Event

Details over the future of the elite game are being ironed out following the PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s merger with the Saudi Public Investment Fund behind LIV Golf, leaving questions over how the newer circuit will eventually coexist with the other two.

While there is the possibility that it may leave the door open for LIV Golf players to once again compete on the other circuits in the future, in recent months, that has effectively been out of the question.

That will all change, temporarily,  in the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which begins on 5 October in Scotland. That’s because four LIV Golf players have received invites to appear in the tournament.

Talor Gooch, Louis Oosthuizen, Hudson Swafford and Peter Uihlein are in the invitational category, and it’s all down to sponsor Johann Rupert. He is the chairman of the Swiss luxury goods firm Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which includes the Dunhill brand.

But how can current LIV Golf players compete in the event in the aftermath of the DP World Tour’s legal win against some of its other stars? It’s because the players were either never members of the DP World Tour or resigned before joining LIV Golf.

Neither Gooch nor Swafford have ever been members of the Tour, while Uihlein resigned three years ago and Oosthuizen handed in his notice before the first LIV Golf event in 2022.

On his inclusion, Uihlein told Sports Illustrated: “I played last year and asked if I could play again since it lined up with my schedule. I love the event, almost won it years ago, finished 10th last year and always played it when I was a member, so I’m glad to be going back.”

The tournament takes place two weeks before the penultimate event in the LIV Golf League schedule at Trump National Doral in Florida, which gives all four ample time to get a taste of the DP World Tour before resuming their duties with the rival circuit.

Whether we will see more LIV Golf players once again competing on the DP World Tour – or even the PGA Tour – in the future is unclear for now. However, the outcome of talks between the powers-that-be over the framework agreement is likely to answer that question in the coming months.