Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton remain Ryder Cup eligible despite joining LIV Golf and will not exploit a “loophole” when they represent Europe in the US next year, says DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings.
Rahm and Hatton are still members of the DP World Tour and will have to play four events per season and pay fines and service bans after switching to the Saudi-backed circuit with no “conflicting event” releases in order to be available for the 2025 Ryder to be cup.
It is understood that bans automatically apply to the next DP World Tour event for which the player is eligible, even if the player had no prior intention of participating in that event.
Kinnings, Keith Pelley’s successor as CEO of the DP World Tour, said: “It’s not a loophole because these are the rules we’ve always had and these are the rules we’ll continue to apply.”
“All suspensions count and you have to serve them. The guys who have analyzed this in detail have said that if they do it right, there is no reason why they can’t play in the Ryder Cup.”
“On this basis we will not change anything. Rules are rules and they apply to every member. We are unable to change rules that we had to go to court to defend.”
In April 2023, an arbitration tribunal ruled that the DP World Tour had the right to sanction players for “serious violations” of its code of conduct. The case was sparked by twelve players appealing $100,000 in fines and bans from the Scottish Open for taking part in the inaugural LIV event in 2022.
Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood resigned their memberships, while Henrik Stenson was sacked as Ryder Cup captain and replaced by Luke Donald.
Asked if these players knew how the tournament bans worked, Kinnings added: “I have no idea what they were thinking. To be completely honest, this is not new news because as you know, I had an extremely thorough Ryder Cup captain and a brilliant assistant.
Sergio Garcia is no longer a member of the DP World Tour
“For the last Ryder Cup, they analyzed every player who was eligible, and that was players on every tour they competed on. If certain players had played well enough, they could have been on the Ryder Cup team. As it is, they didn’t do it.” T.”
Kinnings: I don’t expect unity in golf until 2026
Kinnings also said he does not expect golf to be unified before 2026 as talks continue between the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – LIV Golf’s backers – over a framework agreement would.
He added: “While I am in favor of looking forward rather than looking back, we all know that there has been no major or obvious progress following the announcement of the framework agreement.”
“Was there a big negotiation where all parties sat together and talked about the future product? I don’t think that meeting has happened yet.”
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Speaking in March, Rory McIlroy said the meeting between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund should have happened months ago
“I can’t explain in detail or fix what happened before. Now we just need to make sure this happens as quickly as possible.”
“All I know now, having been directly involved, is that there is a lot of work going on in terms of developing a work plan, so the momentum is significantly greater than before. There is an intention to do the right thing.” People in the room.
“I don’t think the tour plans would change in 2025. If you could make a resolution now, maybe you could do a few things towards the end of 2025, but the reality is that Season 26 has to be the one where there are significant changes.
“The truth is that everyone has to do things that they probably never expected, and they have to be flexible, they have to be willing to compromise so that there are ways in which we can do things.”
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Guests on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast say McIlroy does not need to rejoin the PGA Tour’s policy board
Kinnings welcomed the likely return of Rory McIlroy to the PGA Tour board and believes the Northern Irishman’s vision for a ‘World Tour’ has merit.
“I see a lot of sense in what Rory said,” he added. “Fans want to see the best players playing together as often as possible, just like the majors. This is a model that I find very appealing, but it is only part of the bigger picture.”
“If we want to find a solution, we have to think about how we can integrate team golf in some way, to do justice to what has been done with LIV, but also to do justice to the recognition that we all Love team golf, even if it happens every two years.” In the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup it’s brilliant.
“There are many ways to do this. Would that be a feed in the form of two separate tours or a single tour? I don’t know it. Until we get in the negotiating room and know what people want out of it, you won’t be able to say it.
“But finding a way to bring the players back, make them global, unite them has to be the mantra that we all want to achieve.”
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