"I felt it was unjust"- LIV Golf star Ian Poulter reveals his reasoning behind not paying DP World Tour fines
Ian Poulter gave up his DP World Tour Championship membership after joining LIV Golf. The LIV golfers faced hefty fines of $100,000 a week from the DP World Tour. The LIV golfers have their fines covered by an indemnity policy, but Poulter isn't prepared to see his fines paid.
"I personally wouldn’t pay because I felt it was unjust at the time to be fined $100,000 a week because it makes no sense to me at all," Poulter told Sports Illustrated.
The 48-year-old golfer then shared that he has played golf across the world and that his stance has never changed.
"I was never paying fines by Europe for when I played outside of Europe on other tours around the world so my stance still today is exactly the same stance as I had three years ago."
Sergio Garcia, another LIV golfer who gave up his DP World Tour membership, has applied to get his membership back for the upcoming season. He has done this to be eligible for the Ryder Cup, as only the golfers who have a DP World Tour card are eligible for the biennial event.
However, before getting back his card, the Spanish golfer needs to clear the fines sanctioned against him. Poulter said Garcia needs to pay around $2.4 million worth of fines to compete on the DP World Tour gain.
"He would have had a $1m worth of fines paid already. He’ll play 14 LIV events next year, five of them are fineable of $100,000 a week so he would have spent, or LIV would have spent $2.4m to give him that freedom to have a chance. That’s a lot of money spent to try and make a team," Poulter said.
Garcia needs to have a great season and be one of the six automatic qualifiers or hope the skipper picks him as one of the captain's picks.
Ian Poulter's performance on the DP World Tour
Ian Poulter was one of the best golfers on the DP World Tour, with 12 wins. He last competed in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January 2023. He first joined the tour in 2000 and has made €2,72,27,024.97 as official money.
However, Ian Poulter's performance in the Ryder Cup is what makes him a standout golfer. He holds the record for remaining unbeaten in singles matches at the Ryder Cup, securing six wins and one half until the 2021 Ryder Cup.
However, until the divide in the golf world isn't solved, Poulter might not be seen in the Ryder Cup as having a DP World Tour membership is a prerequisite to be with Team Europe for the Ryder Cup in any capacity.