In a memo to players last week, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan informed those who defied the circuit’s regulations and played the first LIV Golf event that they would be indefinitely suspended.
Monahan’s swift reaction to those who violated the Tour’s policy, a group that included Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, was predictable. Meanwhile, DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley remained noticeably quiet on the showdown between professional golf’s established tours and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit. That changed on Tuesday.
“From many of your messages and my conversations, I know that many of you share the same viewpoint that Jay Monahan expressed in his note to PGA Tour members,” Pelley wrote in a memo to his players. “Namely that the players who have chosen this route have disrespected the vast majority of the members of this Tour.”
DP World Tour players had previously been informed that they would not be able to play the LIV Golf event or the Asian Tour invitational series event, which were both played in London, if they were eligible to play that week’s event on the European circuit. But unlike the PGA Tour, Pelley didn’t answer with swift suspensions.
“Some members asked me why we simply do not follow what the PGA Tour have done and immediately suspend these players,” Pelley’s memo to his constituency read. “While I understand the frustration, I remind you all that although we work closely with the PGA Tour, we are different organizations and our rules and regulations are therefore different too.”
Instead, Pelley said because of the “complexity of our situation,” he will evaluate how the LIV Golf and Asian Tour events impacted the DP World Tour events played the same weeks – the European Open and Scandinavian Mixed event. Pelley said the circuit will decide how to handle those who violated its policies on June 23, which is also the commitment deadline for the Scottish Open. The Scottish Open is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.
Last week’s LIV Golf event featured numerous DP World Tour members, including Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland.
