'Without A Doubt They Were And Are A Competitor' - DP World Tour Official Outlines 'Constant Battle' With LIV Golf

LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil says he wants to "complete not compete" in the world of golf going forward - but that's not how the DP World Tour has seen things over the past few years.

A DP World Tour official has told Golf Digest that it's been a "constant battle" with LIV Golf, which he says had focused on taking over events and venues usually part of their portfolio.

Many have argued that the DP World Tour should have worked with LIV Golf and not fined its players for playing in competing events - but given what Ben Cowen says was going on behind the scenes you can understand the thinking.

The DP World Tour’s chief tournament and operations officer told Golf Digest's Evin Priest that LIV Golf was certainly acting like a competitor in terms of the events and sponsors they wanted to bring on board.

“Look, it was a constant battle for the last five years with [LIV] going after events that were on our schedule, going after venues that were on our schedule, going after sponsors that were part of our schedule as well,” Cowen said.

“Everyone can say that's fine, that's business. We spent a lot of time talking to our partners and explaining to them why they should stay within our ecosystem as the global tour. It's been a rocky road, but I feel we're in a really good place.”

LIV Golf's money ran out though, with the Saudi PIF pulling funding leading to the DP World Tour doing a deal with the Asian Tour and bringing back the Hong Kong Open and Singapore Open for 2027.

'They were and are a competitor'

O'Neil has been keen to insist the new LIV Golf wants to co-exits alongside the DP World Tour and PGA Tour - but after four years of conflict those words raised eyebrows at Wenworth HQ.

"It's frustrating as well without a doubt, when everyone is now talking about trying to complete rather than compete," Cowen added. "For us, it very much felt like a competition and a threat from outside and we had to do what we could to try and protect our business.

“Without a doubt, they were and are a competitor. I don’t think anyone could say otherwise. If they say they weren’t, that’s an interesting take on it.”

The DP World Tour did a deal with Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and others to get them back at events and avoid fines for playing in LIV - and now even Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have paid up their fines and are making their way back.

With Cowen explaining what was going on behind closed doors, it makes more sense why the DP World Tour dug its heels in with regards to deals with Rahm and fines for Westwood and Poulter - with protecting the business from a serious competitor at the forefront of their thinking.

LIV Golf 2.0 will reportedly only be 10 events and for smaller prize pots if it goes ahead, and with the PGA Tour not rolling out a returning member program then plenty of big names could look to the DP World Tour to fill their schedules.

“I really hope so. We're so proud of what we've put together and I hope the fans will really get the benefit of that with some top players playing full schedules with us for the first time in a number of years,” said Cowen.

Allowing players some wiggle room could be a huge boost for the DP World Tour in 2027 and mean traditional events have some stellar fields moving forward. After a tough few years battling with LIV it could be a bit of a resurgence in European golf.