LIV Golf: Lee Westwood worried for DP World Tour’s future after rival tour’s collapse

Although LIV players were banned from the PGA Tour, they could still play in some DP World Tour events, which Westwood felt gave them some “leverage” but “now LIV’s out [of] the way, they’ve lost that”.

However, in July the American and European tours extended their strategic alliance, which includes Annual Investment Payments (AIPs). Last year that figure was £59m.

The PGA Tour also gives tour cards to the top 10 finishers on the DP World Tour who are not already members, but Westwood believes “there are a lot of questions still to be answered” regarding the new terms of their alliance.

“If [the DP World Tour] want to continue having the PGA Tour bankrolling them, there are going to be some big asks from the PGA Tour,” Westwood added.

“If I was [chief executive] Brian Rolapp running the PGA Tour, I would be playing hardball and making a lot of demands of the European tour if they expected me to finance it going forward.”

A spokesperson for the DP World Tour told BBC Sport that it remains in “a robust and healthy position with strong cash reserves”.

“Such progress is remarkable coming, as it did, against the backdrop of havoc in the global golf market caused by an entity which took prize funds to an artificially high level and on the back of what has been proven to be an entirely unsustainable economic model operating within a false economy,” a spokesperson said.

“We look forward to the 2027 season and beyond for many reasons – not least because the player interest in competing on our tour has never been stronger.”

Westwood did not commit to LIV 2.0, as it was known, and is currently “unemployed” as he considers his future but would have to serve a 10-tournament suspension if he opted to rejoin the DP World Tour.

The PGA Tour describes the Korn Ferry Tour as its “premier pathway”, with 20 cards on offer, and announced a new competitive structure in June with a Championship Series and a lower-tier Challenger Series.

The Championship Series will feature a “limited series” of events co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour, which has so far announced the prize fund for just one event in 2027 – the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January.

“The PGA Tour put this ‘plan for the future’ in place and the DP World Tour is not mentioned a whole lot in that,” said Westwood.

“[Rolapp has] already said that the Korn Ferry Tour is going to be the main route into the PGA Tour, which makes me think ‘what’s going to happen to the DP World Tour?’

“I don’t think the DP World Tour has announced any prize funds for next year, which is slightly worrying, and what will prize funds look like from 2028 onwards? There are a lot of questions still to be answered in that strategic alliance partnership.”