{"id":646750,"date":"2026-06-19T06:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T06:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/646750\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T06:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T06:55:08","slug":"lee-westwood-ian-poulter-pay-dp-world-tour-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/646750\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter pay DP World Tour fines"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tIt looks like Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have done a full one-eighty and decided to cough up. But it won\u2019t see them get their dream return to the Ryder Cup fold\u2026<\/p>\n

Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have paid the DP World Tour fines and could return to the European-based circuit as early as January.<\/p>\n

With LIV Golf\u2019s future up in the air after Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund decided to pull its financial backing<\/a> of the breakaway league, it seems the English pair have changed their minds about settling their dispute with the DP World Tour \u2013 which imposed the punishment under its \u201cConflicting Tournament Regulation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Golfweek\u2018s Eamon Lynch first reported<\/a> the news on Friday, and TG has since shared messages with a spokesperson for the Wentworth-based circuit, who confirmed the pair have paid and will \u201cneed to reapply for membership in November\u201d. <\/p>\n

The settlement \u2013 which was believed to be just north of $1 million for both \u2013 means Westwood and Poulter can rejoin following the conclusion of the 2026 season in Dubai. However, they will still have to serve the suspensions that were issued alongside the fines, which are believed to be 10 weeks, meaning a return to action on the could not happen before January. <\/p>\n

It completes a remarkable about-turn from Westwood and Poulter, who have won 25 and 12 European Tour titles respectively. The PIF had initially agreed to pay any fines on behalf of their players, but both flat out refused. \u201cI\u2019m not paying them because I disagree with the way they\u2019ve been handed out,\u201d Westwood said in 2024, with Poulter adding later that year: \u201cIf I personally wouldn\u2019t pay the fines myself, why would I put my business partner in that position?\u201d <\/p>\n

So why will they not be able to return to the Ryder Cup?<\/p>\n

Paying the DP World Tour fines may forge a pathway back to their old stomping ground, but it will not see Westwood or Poulter return to the Ryder Cup fold.<\/p>\n

The pair, who between them have added 40 points to the European cause<\/a> from a combined 18 appearances in the biennial showdown, were a shoo-in to captain the side in the coming years, but the move to LIV Golf put an end to that. And rejoining the DP World Tour will not change things.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because in 2017, Ryder Cup Europe implemented a rule that said any player who resigns his tour membership cannot be considered for either the captain or vice-captain roles in future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It looks like Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have done a full one-eighty and decided to cough up.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-646750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646750","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=646750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}