![\"Graeme](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/graeme-mcdowell-dp-world-tour-return.jpg\")
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\t\t\tIt\u2019s a tense time for some of LIV Golf\u2019s biggest names as they ponder which tour they will be playing on in 2026. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s that time of year again where the LIV Golf stars who finished in the league\u2019s Open Zone start to worry about where they will be playing their golf next season. <\/p>\n
Any player ranked 25th to 48th in the standings may have avoided being relegated<\/a>, but it does mean they can be released if their contract has expired.<\/p>\n One of those players is Graeme McDowell.<\/p>\n The Northern Irishman helped Smash GC to a 4th-place finish at the Team Championship<\/a>, but it\u2019s been another win-free season for both the Brooks Koepka-led team and McDowell \u2013 whose last title came, somewhat ironically, at the 2020 Saudi International, which was then a DP World Tour event.<\/p>\n There have been glimmers for McDowell, though. While it wasn\u2019t his highest-placed finish in the season-long race, the 46-year-old did record his best result in an individual event with a runner-up at LIV Golf Virginia, where he led for much of the tournament before being overtaken down the stretch by a rampant Joaquin Niemann.<\/p>\n In an interview with BBC Sport<\/a>, McDowell admitted his LIV Golf status is \u201cTBD\u201d and that \u201cthere\u2019s work to be done over the next two months to confirm\u201d his contract, but he remains hopeful. <\/p>\n The former world No.4 added: \u201cI have conducted myself well, played well enough, and gave myself a chance to win in Virginia, but the consistency hasn\u2019t been there.<\/p>\n \u201cI expect to be back again with LIV. The main thing is I feel highly motivated to try and win. I haven\u2019t had a chance to pick up a trophy in LIV yet individually and that\u2019s the goal moving into next year.\u201d<\/p>\n But if things don\u2019t go as expected, McDowell has a back-up plan as he looks to return to the Ryder Cup fold<\/a> ahead of the 2027 matches at Adare Manor.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I thought I wasn\u2019t playing LIV in 2026, the DP World Tour is something I would transition back into to give myself one or two last seasons to see if I still have it or not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One DP World Tour event he won\u2019t be playing in, however, is next month\u2019s Amgen Irish Open at The K Club. <\/p>\n \u201cI decided I didn\u2019t want to play there this year because I didn\u2019t want to go and make up the numbers,\u201d he added. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to go there with no other reason but just to play another Irish Open.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to play with a bigger picture and a bigger goal in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n McDowell is also hopeful the framework agreement can finally come to fruition to end the so-called civil war at the top end of men\u2019s golf, particularly now Brian Rolapp is in place as the PGA Tour\u2019s new CEO<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a healing process that needs to happen \u2013 how long that takes, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe politics of the game of golf eventually have to get figured out and we have some good people at the helm \u2013 a new chief executive at the PGA Tour and Scott O\u2019Neil, our chief executive at LIV. They are great guys and great relationship builders.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best players in the world need to play together more often \u2013 that is the headline. Rory [McIlroy] doesn\u2019t want to play 25 times a year, so you only have a certain number of weeks to take the best players and put them together \u2013 outside of the four majors. \u201cLIV is trucking along. The product continues to get better and better. <\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people maybe don\u2019t love it yet, but looking from the inside I think we are doing a better job every season.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tAbout the author<\/p>\n![\"Graeme](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/graeme-mcdowell-targets-2027-ryder-cup-return.jpg\")
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