Henrik Stenson has resigned from the DP World Tour after imposing new sanctions on 26 players who participated in LIV Golf events without consent.
Sweden’s Stenson was relieved of his role as European Ryder Cup team captain for this year’s event in Rome when he joined the Saudi-backed LIV in July 2022.
The DP World Tour published bans of up to eight events and fines of up to £100,000 for each breach of tournament rules.
“It’s sad it’s come to this, but it wasn’t unexpected,” said Stenson, 47.
Talk to golf summarythe 2016 Open champion added: “They left me no other choice, so I quit. That’s it. I don’t really think it will serve to dig too deep.
“I appreciate what the tour has done for me over the years. But they’ve chosen how they want to see the future. And obviously we’ve done the same. Unfortunately, they don’t go together at this point.”
The DP World Tour penalties are based on individual cases with fines ranging from £12,500 to £100,000 for each breach and relate to the period between June 22, 2022 and April 2, 2023.
Stenson said he had not added up the total cost of his fines, but added that they were “anywhere between £50,000 and £75,000 per LIV event”.
He has played in four events in 2022 and played in five in 2023. Two of those were after the April 2 deadline, although the DP World Tour says “new penalties” for events played after April 2 April “will be considered in due course”. “.
Players who have resigned from their membership will not be reinstated until they have paid their fine, from which point their suspensions will apply.
Stenson joins Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Richard Bland in resigning their membership.
In April, an arbitration panel sided with the European tour in its legal battle against 12 players who had appealed against a £100,000 fine and suspension from the Scottish Open for playing in the inaugural LIV Golf event in June 2022 without permission.
