As LIV Golf stars begin to flock to the DP World Tour, some of the circuit’s prominent players are making their feelings clear…

Among the many consequences of the ongoing exodus at LIV Golf is the sense of resentment that will soon linger on driving ranges across Europe.

As LIV stars finalise plans to use the DP World Tour as a landing ground after declining the chance to help relaunch the next iteration of the beleaguered league, the circuit’s current membership are beginning to voice their frustrations.

“Four years ago they didn’t give a s**t about the DP World Tour,” six-time winner Joost Luiten told TG earlier this month. “They made a decision to go after the money. And now all of a sudden, the money is gone and they want to come back and act like nothing happened. I don’t think that’s right.”

Luiten’s sentiment is shared by some of his fellow members.

Ewen Ferguson’s ire lies with the players who apparently showed no contrition or gratitude to his circuit when signing for the breakaway league.

“I have to say, some of the Liv players coming back to play DP is actually cool as some really good players,” the three-time DP World Tour champion wrote on X, “but hilarious how some of them slammed the tour for so long, not one good thing to say about it, now it’s the best thing since sliced bread and feels like coming home.”

Richard Mansell, another DP World Tour winner, concurs.

“Spot on my mate,” he wrote. “I haven’t been around the tour a lot this year and when I have since coming back from injury my golf hasn’t been where I want it so I don’t want to say too much. However, things are going to look different in 2027. Some should be allowed back and some shouldn’t.”

It’s an interesting position the @DPWorldTour finds itself in. Caught between needing “names” at those times of year when they don’t get strong fields(Jan-June) Giving invites to people who have shown no interest in the tour other than now when they’ve nowhere else to play. And…

— Lee Westwood (@WestwoodLee) October 23, 2026

Three-time winner Marco Penge added: “Well said, it’s pretty simple. I think the reason for leaving the DP World Tour to go to LIV kind of speaks for itself.”

The complexities of the subject of LIV players seeking arrangements with Wentworth officials was brought into sharp focus by Eddie Pepperell last week. The Englishman, one of several prominent names to lose his full DP World Tour card after the Genesis Championship in Korea, wrote a thoughtful column about the issue for The Chipping Forecast.

“As someone who has gone through the wringer this game provides, and who has gone back to Q School and had two immensely divergent experiences, betrayal feels like the right word,” Pepperell wrote.  “And unfortunately loss of respect, resentment and contempt. I don’t want to feel resentment or contempt towards the DPWT, but I’m afraid it is an inevitability and I most probably won’t be the only one.”

Lee Westwood has yet to publicly declare his intentions for next season, but would be free to join the DP World Tour next season based on an exemption category after settling fines with his old domain.

Westwood weighed on X, arguing the DP World Tour finds itself in an “interesting position” and is “caught between needing ‘names’ at those times of year when they don’t get strong fields [in] January to June, giving invites to people who have shown no interest in the tour other than now when they’ve nowhere else to play, and keeping the members happy that support the tour at the smaller events and the lads that have gone through all the qualifying stages.

“Anyone with an exemption should be free to come back because as we know the DPWT endorses members going to another rival tour and already have 10 cards for it but if people don’t have an exemption they should have to go through the school like everyone else.”

It is not entirely clear how many LIV players will be welcomed back to the DP World Tour next season, but TG revealed this month that several of them are in talks over a deal that will guarantee a specific number of tournament invites, on the condition they don’t sign up to LIV 2.0.

Some LIV stars will leave and sign contracts to play a certain number of DP World Tour events, despite having no previous status. The circuit is attempting to manage a delicate situation by extracting value from LIV players without denying opportunities to current members.