Patrick Reed is part of the 156-player field at the BMW International Open this week. This raises the question: why did DPWT allow Reed to compete in a tournament after penalizing members for joining LIV Golf? Could it be because he received an honorary lifetime membership to the DP World Tour in 2019? Not exactly!
Following the launch of LIV Golf, the European Tour fined the players who participated in the inaugural event. The list includes pros like Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Richard Bland, Patrick Reed, and more. Additionally, the European Tour suspended them from participating in DP World Tour events. Witnessing this, a few pros, such as Richard Bland, let go of their membership.
Before this year, Patrick Reed last played on DPWT at the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic. Coming to 2024, he is playing at the BMW International Open after 18 months and finished his first round at T2 with an incredible score of 5 under par. Interestingly, he also played in the Italian Open last week, finishing at 5 under par at T26.
The 33-year-old can participate in DP World Tour events because he has no outstanding fines or sanctions. For the same reason, Thomas Pieters played at the Soudal Open, finishing at T2 with a total of 296, 5 under par, as revealed on the National Club Golfer website.
via Reuters
As per DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley, the fine was approximately $125,000 for pros like Jon Rahm and others. However, there is a huge disparity in that. Because of that, 24-time European Tour winner Lee Westwood resigned his membership almost 30 years later. While talking about his resignation from the European Tour, he said, “I’ve resigned my membership in the European tour right but they [Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton] haven’t and now they’re getting fined a figure. But it’s nowhere near the figure that myself and Ian Poulter and a few others got fined, so there’s no consistency in the fines.”
The 51-year-old further revealed that the amount he needs to pay is about $850,000 and said, “They pander to the European tour and say, you know if we pay our fines with them,” he added, “I have outstanding fines as 850 grand or something like that.” Witnessing the disparity, the golfer has no intention of paying that amount.
While the DP World Tour continues to fine LIV golfers, is there any way for them to go back? There sure is!
How can LIV golfers rejoin the DP World Tour?
It is only possible if the pro still has their membership. There is only one condition for rejoining. The DP World Tour fines golfers each time they compete in a LIV Golf event. However, if a golfer can pay these fines, they can return to the European Tour anytime. Something similar happened with Bernd Wiesberger, a former LIV Golf member. The 38-year-old played in the Saudi-backed league for the whole 2023 season.
However, he didn’t renew his contract for another year and announced his return to the DPWT, saying, “I am happy to announce that my focus for next year will entirely be on the DP World Tour,” as stated on Sports Illustrated. Throughout his time in the Saudi-backed league, Wiesberger played in 22 LIV golf events and was fined $1.92 million. Interestingly, LIV Golf paid his fine when he requested to rejoin the European Tour.
What do you think about the disparity in fines for the DP World Tour? Do you think Reed will win the BMW Intl Open? Let us know in the comments below.
