The DP World Tour has confirmed fines from £12,500 to £100,000 for players who breached Conflicting Tournament Regulation by competing on the LIV and Asian Tour events; Stenson: "It is sad that it has come to this... they left me with no other choice so I have resigned"
Friday 12 May 2023 10:36, UK
Former Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson has resigned his membership after the DP World Tour imposed further sanctions on players who competed in LIV Golf events without permission.
Suspensions of up to eight events and fines ranging from £12,500 to £100,000 for each breach of the Conflicting Tournament Regulation were handed to a total of 26 players.
Stenson, who was stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy after joining the Saudi-funded circuit last July, told Golf Digest: "It is sad that it has come to this, but it is what it is and it certainly wasn't unexpected.
"They left me with no other choice so I have resigned. That's it. I don't really feel like it will do any good to dig into this too deeply.
"I'm appreciative of what the tour has done for me over the years. But they have chosen how they want to view the future. And we have obviously done the same. Unfortunately, they don't go together at this point."
Stenson joins Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland in resigning and they will not be eligible for reinstatement until they pay the fines. Suspensions will apply from that point.
The former Open champion said his fines were "anywhere between £50,000 and £75,000 per LIV event" but was reluctant to go into more detail.
"As was the case when I resigned the Ryder Cup captaincy, I have my views on a lot of things that have gone on," he said.
"But out of respect for a lot of people and what they do - and even those I don't totally respect - there is no point in me digging any deeper.
"There is less than half a year until the Ryder Cup so it is best I don't say much other than to say I've resigned."
In April, the Tour won its legal battle against 12 players who had appealed against being fined £100,000 and suspended from the Scottish Open for playing LIV Golf's inaugural event in June 2022. Garcia is the only player not to have paid that fine.
The DP World Tour released a statement to accompany the sanctions dished out to the 26 players who competed in LIV Golf and Asian Tour events without releases.
The statement read: "These events occurred in the period from June 22, 2022 to April 2, 2023 - the day before the independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions released its decision in relation to players competing without releases in the first two LIV Golf events in 2022; at the Centurion Club in England and at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon.
"That decision determined that the DP World Tour had acted 'entirely reasonably in refusing releases' for those events and that the Conflicting Tournament Regulation was 'reasonable and proportionate to the Tour's continued operation as a professional golf tour'.
"The panel also held that the DP World Tour had 'a legitimate and justifiable interest' in enforcing its regulations with the imposition of sanctions such as fines and suspensions."
The cumulative suspension imposed on a single player for breaches in that time frame is a maximum of eight DP World Tour tournaments, comprising a combination of one- or two-week suspensions.
"The suspensions imposed relate to regular season DP World Tour events (i.e. excluding Major Championships) and will run consecutively, effective from the Porsche European Open from June 1-4, 2023 - the first tournament chronologically on the DP World Tour schedule whose entry list remains open as of today," the statement added.
The DP World Tour added that players that have resigned their membership will not be eligible for reinstatement until fines are paid, from which point their suspensions would apply.
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