Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have settled longstanding DP World Tour fines and have given their reasons for finally coughing up.
Speaking ahead of LIV Golf UK, Poulter opened up on the reasons behind settling his debt.
“Look, the fines were always going to be paid at some point, and that was down to myself and Lee to choose when that time was right,” said Poulter.
“The European Tour and LIV Golf and the acceptance of it all, it’s all in a very different position today than what it was four years ago when we were being fined the way we were.
“There are no fines in place today for guys that are playing on LIV Golf, and that’s a massive change. When you look certainly how Jon [Rahm] and Tyrrell [Hatton] were treated back in the day, to still be able to play European Tour golf and play in Ryder Cups.
“Look, things are moving forward in the right direction. What does it mean for me playing-wise on the European Tour? I’m not sure yet, to be honest with you. I’m still hopeful that things work out in the right way for me to play a number of different tournaments at different times.”
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A key reason for Poulter was the change in the DP World Tour’s exemption categories.
“My exemptions are being burnt year in, year out right now, which is unfortunate because they took the opportunity in November, if you didn’t re-join they would reduce your exemption years year on, year out.
“It’s a shame they did that. It’s a shame they devalued the legends category from 5A to 11A, which isn’t helpful to get in some certain tournaments.”
As for Westwood, the Englishman said: “What it does is gives us options having them paid. When the current financial backers of the tour are talking about pulling out and we’re being indemnified, it just makes sense to get them paid straight away before they do pull out.
“That’s really why we had them paid when we did. But I still don’t agree with the fines because we are being completely treated differently to the people playing on this tour. I think the fines were excessive.”
Paying the fines is a direct contradiction to their earlier positions. But that is fairly standard in the modern golf world.
Will this allow them to play other events when not competing on the LIV Golf tour?
“There are conversations being had, but I’m not sure that the DP World Tour know what position they’re currently in,” the former said.
“So negotiations from their side are sort of — it’s tough for them to make a decision.”
As for Poulter, he is waiting on such a conversation with his former tour to come to arrange some sort of deal. “I reached out a long time ago to have a conversation,” he admitted.
“I’m still waiting for a day and a time for them to actually get back to me. But look, I live in America. How many events could I ever see me playing moving forward? Not that many.
“I would still play a few if I wanted to. To be honest with you, for me it’s more about if the promoter wants me to play. I don’t need to play. I’ve played a lot of tournaments in 28 years.
“But if it’s good for the promoter, if it’s good for the tournament, if it’s good for the fans, if it’s good for my schedule and it works, then of course. I would always be happy to play. It was a tour I grew up on. It was a tour I first got my card on to go and play.”
He added: “I’m still waiting for my phone to ring, but unfortunately that call is not incoming apparently.”
Article Link: Poulter, Westwood settle DPWT fines: Here's why