{"id":284809,"date":"2025-11-26T18:28:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/284809\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T18:28:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T18:28:07","slug":"martin-kaymer-slams-dp-world-tour-for-ryder-cup-unfairness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/284809\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Kaymer slams DP World Tour for Ryder Cup unfairness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tA former World No.1 called out \u201cvery strange\u201d and \u201cnot very nice\u201d treatment as DP World Tour\u2019s double standards resurface.<\/p>\n

The debate around how the DP World Tour has handled LIV Golf players refuses to settle, and Martin Kaymer has now added his voice to the discussion with some of the strongest comments to date.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Flushing It<\/a> at the PIF Saudi International, the former World No.1 reflected on how early LIV defectors \u2013 including himself \u2013 faced severe sanctions and were effectively pushed out, while others have since been allowed far more freedom.<\/p>\n

And the 40-year-old made no attempt to hide his thoughts on the inconsistencies:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing is, at the beginning, I think we got the most heat, for leaving certain tours and coming here,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the guys who joined earlier, I think, they had the best or the biggest benefits from everything. Which, there\u2019s no judging or right or wrong. Time developed, and therefore certain things played in their hands. Sometimes you do feel like, and this is not towards Tyrrell [Hatton] or Jon [Rahm], but sometimes you feel like they have different rules for different people. I just find it very strange and I would like to understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jon<\/p>\n

Kaymer was one of several European Ryder Cup legends \u2013 alongside Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, and Henrik Stenson \u2013 who faced fines and suspensions so severe that maintaining DP World Tour membership became virtually impossible. Meanwhile, Rahm and Hatton \u2013 who joined LIV later \u2013 have been given far more flexibility, including Ryder Cup eligibility.<\/p>\n

Kaymer openly questioned how such decisions can coexist:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can there be a lawsuit going on, and then you play the Ryder Cup? It\u2019s very strange for me as a non-lawyer. But again, I\u2019m happy for them because I see the point of view from the athlete. It\u2019s great to compete wherever you want to play and everybody\u2019s welcoming you with open arms. So, that is obviously an amazing situation to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaymer then insisted he wouldn\u2019t say anything bad about the European Tour, before proceeding to say something bad about the European Tour\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say anything bad about the European Tour because they never said anything bad about me,\u201d he said. \u201cThey treated other players\u2026 if we talk about Henrik Stenson, he had the Ryder Cup captaincy. It\u2019s okay to give that up. But the way everything worked out for Henrik was painful to watch. It\u2019s not very nice to treat people like that. But regarding myself, they have been always nice to me. I can\u2019t say any bad word about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Henrik<\/p>\n

Despite his frustrations, Kaymer insisted he hopes to one day return to DP World Tour action, even if the path back remains uncertain:<\/p>\n

\u201cI really hope that I can play on the European Tour in certain events next year or the coming future. I don\u2019t know how they handle the whole thing going forward \u2013 where do they want to go? Where are they seeing the European Tour? That is obviously out of my hands, and unfortunately, I don\u2019t know about it. I hope they figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will LIV and the DP World Tour ever resolve the fines?<\/p>\n

On the matter of a resolution that could settle the fines and suspensions that caused several players to resign their DP World Tour memberships, Kaymer doesn\u2019t sound overly optimistic:<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe Scott O\u2019Neil and the main guys from PIF, if we talk about Yasir, I think they are trying to figure it out, but\u2026 you know, you have so many moving factors in there. For me, it doesn\u2019t really make a difference. I hope for the game of golf they will, but I think it\u2019s gonna be too tricky. The PGA Tour is also involved, because they bought into the European Tour. So there\u2019s so many moving factors. I really hope they do and Scott, I know that he has a plan, but I guess it\u2019s not only up to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaymer\u2019s comments reflect the complexity of a situation that remains unresolved two and a half years after a formal agreement was supposedly reached.<\/p>\n

\"MartinA messy situation that still lacks answers<\/p>\n

Kaymer\u2019s words carry extra because of his pedigree in European golf. He\u2019s a former World No.1, a Ryder Cup hero who holed the winning putt at Medinah, an 11-time DP World Tour winner, a two-time major champion, and one of the most decorated European players of his generation. Many of the players most affected by bans and fines share similar long-term contributions to European golf.<\/p>\n

Kaymer\u2019s reflections underline a point that remains impossible to ignore: the rules have not been applied evenly. With major names moving between tours freely while others are virtually shut out, clarity is long overdue.<\/p>\n

Until the DP World Tour lays out clear, consistent policies, the debate will continue \u2013 and the frustration from past European icons will only grow louder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former World No.1 called out \u201cvery strange\u201d and \u201cnot very nice\u201d treatment as DP World Tour\u2019s double…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-284809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}