Henrik Stenson wants the European Tour to be fair with fines and bans for players in the LIV Golf League.
Stenson, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood joined LIV in 2022 and had to leave the DP World Tour because of big fines. Stenson also lost his Ryder Cup captaincy.
Westwood mentioned on Peter Finch’s podcast that he owed over $1 million before quitting the tour after almost 30 years.
He said newer LIV players like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are fined much less than what he and others faced. He called this unfair.
Stenson agreed with Westwood on Garrett Johnston’s podcast ‘Beyond The Clubhouse’. He thinks Rahm and Hatton got lighter penalties compared to earlier players who joined LIV .
Fans might feel this news is a bit unfair to the older players.
Consistency in Fines
Talking about Rahm and Hatton playing at Bethpage in 2025, Stenson said: “They’re top players, so I’d be surprised if they weren’t on the team.” But he also pointed out how other European LIV players were treated differently. He emphasized fairness: “Treat everyone the same.”
Stenson’s comments came just before LIV Golf Greenbrier and after changes were announced for Ryder Cup qualifications by the European Tour. Starting from the British Masters, all golfers will be ranked on one points list with more points for PGA events and Majors. However, no points will be given for PGA events until January 1.
Stenson believes these changes won’t affect which 12 players make Luke Donald’s team. He said: “The new system combines European points with world-ranking points into one list,” but expects similar results as before.
He added that top-ranked players usually play worldwide schedules, hinting a slight bias towards PGA Tour preferences in rankings.
What do you think about these changes?
