Poulter and Westwood threaten legal action over Scottish Open ban
Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are among a group of 16 players fined and banned from the Scottish Open who have threatened the DP World Tour with legal action unless their sanctions are rescinded by today.
The punishments – £100,000 individual fines and bans from forthcoming tournaments, including the Scottish Open – were handed down by the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, last Friday
as it formally moved to punish all players who had signed up for the Saudi rebel tour, which launched last month. The latest rebel event in Portland, Oregon, started last night.
There is a Tour deadline by next Friday that means the rebels cannot play until they have paid their fines, although LIV Golf ’s response was to offer financial support to its players to cover any penalties or legal costs they may incur.
But the players involved have threatened legal action unless they are allowed to play in the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in
North Berwick next Thursday, the first tournament to be sanctioned jointly by the two established tours.
In an open letter, the 16 players claim that the DP World Tour is being hypocritical for banning them while allowing others to feature in events outside its tour, claiming the penalties levelled against them are “grossly unfair and likely unlawful”.
They also question the 13-year partnership that was announced this week between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, asking why the latter appears to be accepting that it will play second fiddle to its American big brother.
The letter, which was signed by 16 of this week’s LIV Golf Invitational Series competitors in Portland and sent to Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour chief executive, and other board members, called for negotiations to align the rebel series with the two existing traditional tours, or face the risk of future legal action.
It read: “In Mr Pelley’s latest communication, he uses the statement that every action in life comes with a consequence. We agree, and we are concerned that the actions of the Tour against us, LIV Golf and golf in general will have adverse consequences on the DP World Tour.
“We ask that you rescind your fines and suspensions by 5pm [today]. If not, you will leave us with no choice but to employ the various other means and methods at our disposal to rectify these wrongs.”