DP World Tour Won’t Allow Dual LIV Golf Memberships in 2027

The DP World Tour will not allow players to hold dual memberships on the circuit and LIV Golf in 2027 like it has done in recent years.

“Players need to make a choice,” DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings said in a statement on Monday. “As we have said for many years, we have rules and regulations which are there to protect our tour and which our members must all abide by. Players who are not willing to comply with our rules and regulations should not be seeking to join our tour.”

A DP World Tour spokesperson declined to comment beyond the official comment from Kinnings when reached by Front Office Sports. BBC Sport was first to report the development.

LIV has not yet released a 2027 schedule as its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in New Jersey remains ongoing. As part of the league’s proposed $300 million financing deal with BC Partners Credit, there is an Oct. 25 deadline for players to commit to “LIV 2.0.” 

Since LIV launched in 2022, its players have been banned from the PGA Tour, but not from the DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) so long as their memberships remained in good standing and they paid any fines for playing in LIV events that conflicted with competing DP World Tour events. LIV paid those fines for players—estimated to be north of $20 million—until 2025.

Earlier this year, nine LIV players were granted conditional releases by the DP World Tour to keep their memberships while continuing to compete on LIV during the league’s 2026 season. That included Jon Rahm, despite his initial resistance to the deal terms. 

But the DP World Tour will not approve memberships or make special exemptions for players also intending to compete on LIV in 2027, sources told FOS. A major issue for DP World Tour brass is LIV’s new proposed structure in which players will be majority equity holders of the league, sources said.

During LIV’s first five seasons, event purses were $25 million-plus. LIV 2.0 is likely to have tournament purses of $10 million or less, which are being pitched to players as having prize money second only to the top tier of the PGA Tour.

Ahead of the DP World Tour’s Nov. 16 deadline for 2027 membership applications, players will be asked to disclose any other tour they intend to compete on next year, according to sources, and deviating from those intentions could be grounds for termination of their membership.

LIV is planning to have some wild card entries at its events next year. It’s unclear whether any players competing in LIV events, but not holding league membership, would be banned from competing in DP World Tour events.

The news comes as Rahm leads a growing list of LIV players who have signaled that they will not compete in the league in 2027. Fellow Spaniard David Puig said he doesn’t see himself playing on LIV anymore, and Sergio Garcia had his LIV contract terminated last week. Well-known European LIV players like Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin are likely to be impacted by the DP World Tour shift, too.

The DP World Tour has been in a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour since 2020. This year, the alliance has added new elements, including a deal with the Asian Tour and Golf Australia. In 2025, the PGA Tour paid the DP World Tour more than $77 million, which largely helped fund prize money at events. The PGA Tour has an equity stake in European Tour Productions that will increase to 40% ownership next year.

Currently, the top 10 players in the DP World Tour’s season-long points race, not otherwise exempt, earn PGA Tour cards for the following year. As the PGA Tour shifts to a new two-track model in 2028, top DP World Tour players are expected to earn some spots on the top-tier Championship Series, although the exact number has not been determined. 

Holding DP World Tour membership is a requirement for players wishing to compete for Europe in the Ryder Cup. The PGA of America (a separate entity from the PGA Tour) runs the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and has never banned LIV players.