Their resignations meant that the three players would no longer be eligible to play in DP World Tour events or be able to qualify for or be available for selection for the European Ryder Cup team either as players, future captains or vice-captains.
Richard Bland, who won last year’s Betfred British Masters but also joined LIV Golf last year, also resigned his membership of the DP World Tour before the May 3 deadline to pay the £100,000 fines imposed by the DP World Tour.
It is understood Westwood paid the £100,000 fine, but the Tour is likely to impose fines for the subsequent 12 events he and other LIV golfers have played since, which amount to more than £1m in fines.
A statement from the DP World Tour read: “The DP World Tour would like to take this opportunity to thank the four players for the contribution they made to the tour and in particular to Sergio, Ian and Lee for the important role they played in Europe’s success at the Ryder Cup over the years. many years.
But their resignations, along with the penalties imposed on them, are the result of their own choices.”
“As we have consistently maintained throughout the past year, the Tour has a responsibility to its entire membership to manage the member lists on which each player registers. These regulations are put in place to protect the collective interests of all DP World Tour members. The independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions recognized this, and decided that the regulation The conflicting tournaments and their application in the circumstances did not go beyond what was necessary and proportionate to the continued operation of the tour as a professional golf tour and that we had a legitimate interest in protecting the rights of our full membership by enforcing it.”
It is not yet known if other members of the DP World Tour who currently compete on the LIV golf circuit, including Henrik Stenson, Thomas Peters, Paul Casey, Bernd Weisberger, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer, will seek to retain some of their membership.