DP World Tour to bar LIV-linked players from membership in 2027
On 12 October 2026 the DP World Tour said it will not allow any player who signs up to LIV Golf next season to be a member of its circuit in 2027. Guy Kinnings, CEO of the DP World Tour, told BBC Sport: "Players need to make a choice."
The tour said the decision forces golfers to declare where they intend to play and represents a tougher stance than in recent seasons, when conditional releases enabled some competitors to appear on both circuits. Deadlines for membership decisions on both tours fall within the next five weeks, and the DP World Tour noted membership is required to be eligible to play for Europe in the Ryder Cup. The statement came as LIV Golf faces uncertainty despite announcing it had secured a possible $300m in financing as part of a restructuring effort.
The DP World Tour will ask prospective members to disclose which tours they intend to play on, and those answers will influence membership decisions; the tour has told BBC Sport it will not accept membership from anyone intending to play on what is being called LIV 2.0. The organisation added that if players fail to disclose plans to play LIV and subsequently do so, that would be grounds for termination of their membership.
Around 15 LIV players, including Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Victor Perez and Tom McKibbin, currently have "status" with the DP World Tour under one of the membership categories. Other LIV players such as Joaquin Niemann and Thomas Pieters do not have that status and would either need to go through qualifying school or sign agreements to receive invitations to a set number of tournaments. The tour said those invitation agreements would only be offered to players who were not part of LIV in the future.
LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September as it attempted to restructure following the withdrawal of its multi-billion dollar funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Last week LIV announced it had secured a possible $300m in financing from BC Partners Credit in order to try to move forward with the 2027 season. Ted Goldthorpe, head of BC Partners Credit, told BBC Sport last week he was "confident" LIV would have a "critical mass" of players. Since that announcement Jon Rahm has said he will not continue playing on the LIV tour.
The DP World Tour granted conditional releases to nine players this season but said the change for 2027 is predominantly down to LIV offering players equity in future and a feeling this is incompatible with the European tour being a members organisation. The tour also noted the decision comes at a time when its strategic alliance with the PGA Tour is being negotiated, "so the move likely reflects a desire to put itself in the best position possible in those discussions."
Players have until 16 November to sign up to the DP World Tour for 2027, while under the terms of its court-supervised restructuring process LIV needs to sign players up by 25 October. Lawyers for a number of players, including Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, have sought court clarification that rejection of contracts would equate to "termination", enabling players to discuss their futures with third parties; Richard Bland is currently the only player to have publicly stated a desire to play on LIV 2.0, while Perez indicated last month he hoped there would be a future for the league.