It looks like the road back to the traditional tours might not be as easy as many LIV Golf players thought…

The DP World Tour will start imposing fines on LIV Golf players again next season in a move that will serve some of the league’s biggest stars with a career ultimatum.

As first reported by The Athletic, the DP World Tour has now informed players it will resume the suspensions and fines that have been handed out for violating the circuit’s conflicting events rules.

The European circuit struck a deal with eight LIV golfers in February to participate in the breakaway league’s events without incurring such punishments. In return, the octet of players agreed to settle all previous fines, drop appeals, as well as participating in an extra number of DP World Tour events.

Tyrrell Hatton, Thomas Detry, Laurie Canter, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, Elvis Smylie and David Puig all signed the deal – but Jon Rahn declined. The Spaniard later struck his own deal to get conditional releases, similar to the one initially offered to his LIV colleagues.

The agreement has meant that LIV players have competed freely on the league this season without racking up more fines and suspensions. Crucially, however, the DP World Tour stated in February that these case-by-case releases only applied for the 2026 season and therefore “are not precedent-setting”.

The goalposts, though, have since shifted and the tumult facing LIV Golf has now emboldened the DP World to turn up the dial.

Multiple LIV golfers are considering their futures for the 2027 campaign – with several already contacting Wentworth HQ as part of their contingency planning – and TG has confirmed with sources close to the situation that it is now “highly unlikely” that any conditional release offers will be made.

The uncertainty over LIV’s reimagined schedule – which is being touted as 10 events each with $10 million purses – has meant that the DP World Tour no longer feels it needs to strike a deal with players on the beleaguered circuit.

LIV players will soon have to decide if they want to commit their futures to “LIV 2.0” – the moniker given to the league’s post-Saudi era – and part of that consideration will now involve whether it is worth swallowing fines and suspensions for playing in a reduced number of events.

The situation has obvious implications for the Ryder Cup and both Rahm and Hatton were only allowed to play in last year’s match at Bethpage as they were appealing the fines inflicted on them. Those appeals were waved when the conditional release agreements were signed this year and it appears the formidable European pair could again be risking their participation at Adare Manor next September if they remain with the league.

LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil is dangling a carrot to his star names by offering them equity in a league that would be largely controlled by the players next season. But it remains to be seen if that will be enough to keep hold of his biggest assets without the guarantee of the inordinate prize purses and more regular starts.

The DP World Tour’s decision to notify players that they will resume imposing sanctions, therefore, has come at a critical juncture in LIV’s survival race.