DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings isn’t ready to throw the doors wide open and welcome back players from LIV Golf.
The future of LIV is in doubt, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund having cut off its financial backing and a potential new-look circuit trying to navigate bankruptcy proceedings. The uncertainty has led some LIV players to seek a return to the U.S.-based PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour.
Speaking with The Scotsman newspaper of Edinburgh, Kinnings laid out his reservations about reintegrating players who defected to LIV.
“We’ve got to protect that special culture that we have on the Tour,” Kinnings said. “And you see it across the whole Tour. That’s why I’m so proud of what we have — it’s like nowhere else in the world.
“But we also have to protect the Tour against an entity who spent, so we are told, over $7 billion, with one of their aims being to ‘destroy the DP World Tour’. I have heard that from so many different people they talked to, who I have known for over 30 years within the game and who I trust implicitly.
“Clearly when you are faced with statements like that, and then people then ask why we are doing what we are doing with our membership and invite policy for 2027, then I think the answer becomes pretty obvious.”
Regarding the potential return of players from LIV, Kinnings said, “It’s got to be as fair as it can be and as merit-based as it can be, but there is probably no perfect solution.
“Regardless of who the players are, they’ve got to prove themselves in the system. I understand what some players are saying, because things have been said in the past. But if players are ready to say, ‘I’m now ready to be supportive, do good things for the Tour and try and help,’ then we have to look at that.”
Asked about LIV’s effect on the professional golf landscape, Kinnings said, “What LIV did was take prize funds to an artificially high level and, as has been shown recently, on the back of an entirely unsustainable economic model. As our former board member Paul McGinley said in a recent interview, it’s a false economy. Therefore, as we discuss everything with our partners and people who want to work with us, we will be putting a lot of things under consideration.
“Does that mean adjusting our prize funds? Does it mean changing the schedule a bit? Do we double down on our biggest and best events and focus on our strengths like our Rolex Series events and our National Opens? Does it mean considering bringing in capital investment to help us grow our events further? Nothing is off the table, but everything will be done in consultation with our Tournament Committee, our Board and our members.”
The DP World Tour remains committed to extending its partnership with the PGA Tour, according to Kinnings.
“We’re working on it right now,” he said. “We haven’t resolved everything and there are things yet to be worked out. But the relationship has worked well, and there’s no doubt that it’s been very positive. It’s been good for us and good for them. I like working with Brian (Rolapp, the PGA Tour’s CEO), and we both want to get it done. I have every confidence we will.”