LIV Golf is dead, even if it stays alive in zombie form come 2027, whatever little vitality it once had gone with the player exodus during its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. The collateral damage, however, keeps spreading with DP World Tour members now potential victims of the havoc.
Earlier this month, DPWT CEO Guy Kinnings said his tour would no longer extend conditional releases to LIV players, giving the defectors an ultimatum to choose between the two circuits by November. Some of those LIV individuals have DPWT status but many do not, meaning they would need sponsor’s exemptions to be a part of the tour, which tour leadership has signaled its willing to grant. That hasn’t gone over well with the players who stayed; they turned down Saudi money and put their faith in their home league, only to watch it seem willing to welcome back the same men who tried to wreck their livelihoods and now may soon be taking their jobs.
Some have suggested the fair thing would be to force LIV players to earn their status back through Q School. Unfortunately, principle does not pay the bills. The DP World Tour’s fields have been thinned by LIV’s raids and by a pipeline that ships its best players to the PGA Tour. Its finances are shaky enough already, with the threat of getting worse if the PGA Tour walks away from their strategic alliance at the end of next year. If golf’s civil war has taught anything over five painful seasons, it’s that everything has a price. The players who stayed loyal to the DP World Tour are about to find out what that loyalty was worth.
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The DP World Tour released the field for next week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, the first of two playoff events that cap its 2026 season. The top 70 players off the Race to Dubai points list qualify for the event, but 10 of them are skipping it, including recent European Ryder Cup players Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Bob MacIntyre, Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg. Also not on the entry list are reigning Open champion Ryan Fox and Alex Fitzpatrick. Neither the tour or the players have given reasons for missing the event, although last month Matt Fitzpatrick and MacIntyre voiced concerns about playing this tournament and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in the Middle East given the ongoing political unrest in the region. The decision by MacIntyre (56th in the Race to Dubai) and Rose (69th) means that they are forgoing the chance to move into the top 50 on the points list and qualify for the Tour Championship in Dubai. To fill the 70-player field in Abu Dhabi, the DP World Tour reached down to the next 10 players off the RTD points list.
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A federal judge has extended the block on President Trump's plans for East Potomac Golf Links. After a contentious couple weeks in the court room regarding the future of the Washington, D.C. public course, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued an injunction that prevents the government from taking down more trees or doing any other modifications while the lawsuit against Trump’s plans is active. In the injunction Reyes did not hide her displeasure with the administration, expressing indignation regarding the government’s assertion “not to believe the sitting President” and overlook Trump’s remarks and social-media posts about what he wants to do at East Potomac. “This started as a case about golf. That good walk spoiled. But it has become much more,” Reyes wrote. “It now forces the Court to reconcile assertions by President Donald J. Trump with the sworn testimony of multiple government employees and the argument of senior Department of Justice attorneys.” For more on the saga, you can read Golf Digest’s longform feature about the East Potomac controversy.
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Mark Dec. 27 as a possible date to see Tiger Woods swing a golf club in competition again. ESPN and TMRW Sports announced the upcoming schedule for the indoor simulator league, TGL, and Woods’ Jupiter Links Golf Club is part of an opening day doubleheader. Of course, there’s no guarantee Woods will play, but with reports of him actively practicing, it seems very possible he’d compete in an event that requires little walking. Spots are still being held open for him in both the Tiger-hosted Hero World Challenge (Dec. 3-6) and family competition PNC Championship (Dec. 19-20). The Sunday opening day of TGL’s third season—which falls in Week 16 of the NFL season—will be televised by ABC. Jupiter plays reigning champ Los Angeles Golf Club at 3 p.m. ET in a rematch of this year’s final. The first match, at 1 p.m., features Rory McIlroy’s Boston Common Golf vs. Brooks Koepka’s first-year Motor City Golf Club. In all, there will be 14 regular-season matches at SoFi Center, with the top three teams from a total of seven automatically reaching the playoffs (March 1-23). The fourth team will be determined by a play-in match.
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