LIV Golf rebel Bernd Wiesberger has been accepted onto the DP World Tour next year and faced a big financial penalty
LIV Golf have bailed out former Ryder Cup star Bernd Wiesberger who was slapped with a reported £1.5million fine after applying to re-join the DP World Tour. The Austrian was one of those European Ryder Cup stars who ‘betrayed’ Rory McIlroy by joining the breakaway circuit for a huge payday.
The Austrian golfer has lost his place on LIV Golf and opted not to compete at the LIV Golf Q-School event in Abu Dhabi next month. Wiesberger also declined a chance to join the Saudi-backed series’ ‘free agency’ phase which could have seen him selected by a team captain.
Chiefs in Saudi Arabia assured the Norwegian that he could play in his native DP World Tour and that they would cover any fines when he joined LIV Golf. Rebels were left in the dark when a later legal hearing rejected that argument.
Though Wiesberger only participated in two of the European tour’s events last season, he lost his membership instead of quitting. His membership application for this year has been approved, subject to him paying the £1.5 million fine and serving out the remainder of the suspension, which expires in January.
Despite removing the player from their circuit, LIV Golf is expected to pay the unprecedented £1.5 million fine, according to The Telegraph. Following two seasons in the breakaway series, where he took home £3.5 million in prize money, the Austrian took to social media to announce his inclusion on the DP World Tour.
“I’m happy to announce that the DP World Tour will be my only focus for the upcoming year,” he stated. I am appreciative of the chance to play a full schedule once more because I have never canceled my membership.
“That will include the customary national championships, which are a significant component of the circuit and in which I have previously experienced some success. I’m excited to participate in those and, of course, get back to work in Dubai in January.
McIlroy expressed his feelings of “betrayal” to the Guardian last year towards the European players who risked missing the Ryder Cup in order to participate in the breakaway series. In Rome, Europe defeated America, and Wiesberger was one of the LIV Golf rebels left off the roster.
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