DP World Tour Wins Arbitral Decision Allowing It to Punish Golfers Who Defected to LIV

Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate a digital copy of the arbitral decision.  I will make do with reporting from Ewan Murray in The Guardian.  A dozen professional golfers (none of whom are included in the painting at left) played in a tournament sponsored by the LIV Golf Circuit.  The DP World Golf Tour sanctioned the players with fines of up to £100,000.  The players denied that they had violated their agreement with the DP World Tour by playing for the rival organization.

Last month, an arbitral panel ruled that DP World Tour had acted within its rights in fining the players and had in fact reacted reasonably in the circumstances.  DP World Tour issued a statement, noting that 26 players are now subject to sanctions for playing in LIV Golf events, with fines ranging from £12,500 to £100,000 as well as suspensions.  The statement notes that players who have resigned from the DP World Tour will not be reinstated until they pay their fines.  According to SkySports, as of December 2022, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland had resigned their memberships.

As of three days ago, it seems that all fined golfers other than Sergio Garcia had paid their fines. Ankita Yadav, writing in Sportskeedasuggests that LIV Golf paid the fines for seven golfers and provides the following list of golfers who have paid.

• Ian Poulter
  Lee Westwood
• Richard Bland
• Laurie Canter
• Branden Grace
• Justin Harding
• Sam Horsfield
• Martin Kaymer
• Pablo Larrazabal
• Graeme McDowell
• Shaun Norris
• Wade Ormsby
• Adrian Otaegui
• Patrick Reed
• Charl Schwartzel
• Bernd Wiesberger

Interesting international developments as the U.S. tightens rules on non-compete clauses.