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DP World Tour announces 4 big names have resigned their membership

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The DP World Tour today revealed it has received membership resignations from four of its best-known players.

Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Richard Bland were four players that were sanctioned for serious breaches of the tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation committed last June and from today will take no further part in official DPWT business.

All four players made the move to LIV Golf, a sidestep that resulted in the DPWT handing out sanctions and fines, as well as banning players from the Scottish Open in 2022.

The four were among many that challenged the punishments, initially finding judgement in their favor and allowing them to compete at some of the most respected of European events, including the flagship BMW Championship at Wentworth.

However, nine months later, Sports Resolutions finally reached a verdict in favor of the ruling tour. The verdict allows further sanctions to be handed out to rebel players, prompting today’s resignations.

The DP World Tour today stated that the episode is “a consequence of their own choices,” and that the tour “has a responsibility to its entire membership to administer the member regulations which each player signs up to.”

With the 44th Ryder Cup just six months away, the confirmed loss of stalwarts Poulter and Garcia means that this week’s DPWT event at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club is a chance for some lesser-known players to make their way up the list of possibles on Luke Donald’s list of picks.

Donald was asked to be European captain after the original pick, Henrik Stenson, was stripped of his captaincy for joining LIV in the early part of last year, and today’s move is also likely to see the end of any chance that some of Europe’s most legendary match-play competitors will lead the side for any future Ryder Cup.

Released on Wednesday afternoon, the full statement reads:

The DP World Tour today confirmed it has received membership resignations from Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Richard Bland and Lee Westwood who were sanctioned for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation committed last June.

The DP World Tour would like to take this opportunity to thank the four players for the contribution they have made to the Tour and in particular to Sergio, Ian and Lee for the significant part they have played in Europe’s success in the Ryder Cup over many years.

Their resignations, however, along with the sanctions imposed upon them, are a consequence of their own choices.

As we have consistently maintained throughout the past year, the Tour has a responsibility to its entire membership to administer the member regulations which each player signs up to. These regulations are in place to protect the collective interests of all DP World Tour members.

The independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions recognised this, determining that our Conflicting Tournament Regulation and its application in the circumstances did not go beyond what was necessary and proportionate to the Tour’s continued operation as a professional golf tour and that we have a legitimate interest in protecting the rights of our full membership by enforcing it.

A further update on other sanctioned members will be provided on Thursday.

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‘It was devastating’ – Keegan Bradley reveals the call he got that made him believe he was on Ryder Cup team

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This week, Keegan Bradley was a guest on the Foreplay Podcast. The 37-year-old was one of the players who seemingly narrowly missed a spot on the Ryder Cup team, and shared a heart wrenching story of how it all went down.

Apparently, Zach Johnson texted all of the players in consideration for a Captain’s pick that they’d be getting a call the following day about whether or not they’ve made the team.

When the next day arrived, Keegan got a call from Netflix, who said “Keegan, we got a camera crew five minutes from your house.”

At that moment, Bradley let himself believe that meant he was going to be heading to Rome for the Ryder Cup.

“Why would they be sending a camera crew if I’m not to get picked? For the first time, I let my brain think I did it.”

He then said he knew immediately by the tone of Zach’s voice that he wasn’t going to be picked.

“It was devastating.”

You can catch the full episode here.

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Brooks Koepka explains why he understood the case for and against picking Dustin Johnson for the Ryder Cup

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Brooks Koepka is the lone LIV golfer in next week’s Ryder Cup. This will be the 33-year-old’s fourth Ryder Cup, and second in Europe. In his three prior Ryder Cups, Koepka is 6-5-1 overall, including 2-0-1 in singles matches.

Koepka was extremely close to being an automatic qualifier but slipped out of the final spot during the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The five-time major champion spoke about his Ryder Cup preparation prior to this week’s LIV Chicago event, in which he will be taking a flight to Rome directly after.

“My whole mindset has been to practice for (the Ryder Cup) the last few weeks. I mean, look, I think it’s one of the top six, seven biggest sporting events you can have. It’s a little bit more eyeballs, a little bit more pressure.”

When asked if he “plays for legacy” now after all he’s accomplished, Koepka said “I think everybody remembers their record”.

“I think everybody remembers their record, or that’s kind of what you’re known by, wins, losses. Poulter has pretty much made a career on that. Yeah, I think you can.”

While speaking with Sports Illustrated this week, Brooks was asked about the fact that Dustin Johnson, who went 5-0 at Whistling Straits in 2021, was not chosen as a captains pick this time around.

“I get the case for DJ. He played great the last time, played great last year. Hasn’t really played that great this year … or hasn’t played to DJ’s standard. That’s a better way to put that. And he didn’t play well in the majors. So I can see why he didn’t get a pick. But if they had picked him, it’s DJ and I could see that one as well.”

Although there will be no other LIV players in Rome, Koepka said he’s not worried about who he plays with and can “play with anybody”.

“I can play with anybody, and I will play with anybody.”

It will be interesting to see who Koepka is paired with next week at Marco Simone.

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Free agent Matt Fitzpatrick explains why he can’t play golf clubs made by these two manufacturers

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The 2022 U.S. Open Champion, Matt Fitzpatrick, is currently an equipment free agent. He recently sat down with GolfMagic to discuss why he isn’t tied down with a manufacturer and what his outlook is going forward.

“I struggle with TaylorMade and Callaway clubs because of the way their woods and hybrids are designed. The soles aren’t very good for me so my interaction with the turf is terrible with those. Until that changes, I’d never be able to get on with them. PING and Titleist have always been a little bit better for me.”

With TaylorMade and Callaway off the table, Fitzpatrick is currently using Titleist TSi3 and is also experimenting with a Titleist TSR3.

According to the photos captured by GolfMagic, Fitz is still using his Bettinardi BB1 Fitz, but also has a different Bettinardi prototype he’s experimenting with in Rome.

With tight fairways at Marco Simone, the Englishman will be hoping that whichever driver he chooses keeps him in the fairway at next week’s Ryder Cup.

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