The DP World Tour defends itself with fines and bans - and it hits with the Dusseldorf Martin Kaymer, the most successful German golf professional after Bernhard Langer. The 38-year-old Rhinelander, who allegedly switched to Saudi-funded LIV Golf in June last year for a signing bonus of more than one million euros, will be excluded from the home game at the gates of Hamburg.
The former world number one (eight weeks in spring 2011) had registered for the Porsche European Open, which will take place from 1 to 4 June at the Green Eagle Course in Winsen an der Luhe. But this exclusion is not only a hard blow for Kaymer. In addition to the German, the 45-year-old Englishman Paul Casey, who won this tournament in 2019 and promotes the title sponsor as a brand ambassador, was also removed from the list of participants, a move that also affects Porsche, according to the Guardian.
The English newspaper posted an article online with the headline "Porsche may withdraw its support after DP World Tour suspends LIV golf rebels". In it, an unnamed spokesperson for the automaker is quoted as saying, "We are in talks with the organizer and the tour about the future of the event."
But Dirk Glittenberg, the tournament director and managing director of the organizer UCom, denied in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the car manufacturer was thinking of withdrawing, especially since the bans do not come as a surprise. "I expected the DP World Tour to consistently assert its rights. The Porsche European Open is the first tournament where she was able to start with the suspensions."
Martin Kaymer cancels
According to Glittenberg, the fact that Kaymer and Casey, who did not play last year due to injuries, have now been suspended has little effect on the attractiveness of his event. "We are concentrating entirely on the German participants. For the first time, four German tournament winners will compete in a German tournament. Matti Schmid will also make a detour from the PGA Tour to us," says Glittenberg. Since last June, Maximilian Kieffer from Düsseldorf, Yannik Paul from Viernheim, Marcel Siem from Ratingen and Nick Bachem from Cologne have won the DP World Tour.
While Casey will take part in the second major of the year, the PGA Championship in Rochester (New York), from Thursday to Sunday, Kaymer canceled on Saturday. The Rhinelander, who won this major in 2010 and thus has a lifelong right to play, justifies his cancellation with the fact that his operated left wrist cannot withstand three tournaments in a row. Because right in the week after the PGA Championship, all LIV golfers have to play in Bedminster (New Jersey) according to the contract.
As the DP World Tour announced, Kaymer is one of the 16 professionals who paid the fine of 100,000 pounds (about 114,000 euros) for participating in LIV's first tournament in England in June. Only Sergio Garcia refuses, but the former European Tour will take legal action against the 43-year-old Spaniard. Since 1 June, the traditional series has been implementing what the London Court of Arbitration confirmed as lawful at the beginning of April.
The former European Tour, which has been hosting tournaments since 1972, may fines and ban renegades who, contrary to the regulations of this series, participate in events of competing leagues, in this case LIV-Golf and its partner Asian Tour, without permission. As Keith Pelley, the Canadian head of the DP World Tour, announced at the weekend, not only Kaymer and Casey were removed from the list of participants in the European Open, but a total of 26 professionals.
They will have to pay a fine of between £2022,2023 and £25,000 (around £100,000 and €28,500) for each individual breach of the regulations between June 114 and April 000. In total, LIV hosted eight tournaments during this period. Whether Kaymer and other renegades will be banned for further tournaments, Pelley left open. From 22 to 25 June, the BMW International Open, the second tournament of the DP World Tour in Germany, will take place in Eichenried.
In order to avoid further fines, the Englishmen Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland as well as Garcia have now terminated their membership. On Saturday, the Swede Stenson, who already lost his post as European Ryder Cup captain because of his move to LIV, also gave up the so-called Tour Card. The DP World Tour made it clear that a return to the DP World Tour is not an option for the renegades until they have paid their fines. At least for Kaymer, that shouldn't be a problem. Although he has never achieved a top ten result at LIV, he has already earned more than two million euros in prize money.