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Former world No. 1 Lee Westwood says his decision to settle his fines with the DP World Tour was about giving him "options" amid LIV Golf's uncertain future.
Westwood and his Majesticks co-captain Ian Poulter have both cleared the financial penalties they racked up with the European circuit after becoming founding members of LIV in 2022. They were fined for each event they played on the breakaway league before losing an arbitration hearing in 2023, which led them to resign their memberships.
The Ryder Cup legends were furious about the financial penalties they received, and Westwood vowed never to return to the tour where he sits behind only Rory McIlroy on the all-time money list. He opened the door to returning in June amid LIV's cash crisis.
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Later that month, both he and Poulter cleared the fines they owed to the tour, enabling them to reapply for membership. Their total fines bill is believed to be in the region of $1.1 million each, and they will be eligible to apply for reinstatement in November.
Westwood gave his side of the story at a press conference ahead of LIV Golf U.K., which begins at JCB Golf & Country Club in Uttoxeter, England, on Thursday. He said: "What it does is gives us options having them paid.
"When the current financial backers of the tour are talking about pulling out and we're being indemnified, it just makes sense to get them paid straight away before they do pull out. That's really why we had them paid when we did.
"But I still don't agree with the fines because we are being completely treated differently to the people playing on this tour. I think the fines were excessive, as well, when you consider what other people did and how much they got fined historically."
Former world No. 5 Poulter added: "Look, the fines were always going to be paid at some point, and that was down to myself and Lee to choose when that time was right.
"The European Tour and LIV Golf and the acceptance of it all, it's all in a very different position today than what it was four years ago when we were being fined the way we were. There are no fines in place today for guys that are playing on LIV Golf, and that's a massive change. When you look certainly how Jon [Rahm] and Tyrrell [Hatton] were treated back in the day, to still be able to play European Tour golf and play in Ryder Cups.
"Things are moving forward in the right direction. What does it mean for me playing-wise on the European Tour? I'm not sure yet, to be honest with you. I'm still hopeful that things work out in the right way for me to play a number of different tournaments at different times."
The decision to clean the slate comes amid growing uncertainty over LIV's future after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announced it would withdraw funding at the end of this season, and the league was dealt a fresh blow in its seatch for new investors on Tuesday with the announcement the Asian Tour had entered a partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Westwood, in particular, felt burned by the punishments he faced in the months after LIV launched because he remained an active European Tour player despite having opportunities to play full-time on the PGA Tour.
The Englishman, 53, is not a fan of the strategic alliance between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, which was formed in the aftermath of the LIV breakaway.
"I think [the DP World Tour is] spinning a lot of plates at the moment, right, with funding from the PGA Tour and things like that, and it's clear to me that their fields improve when LIV players are allowed to play," he said.
"But LIV players aren't allowed to play on the PGA Tour at the moment, are they, yet the PGA Tour gets a certain amount of say. They have a board member on the European Tour, and they fund it a lot. So they probably have a certain amount of say down at Wentworth, right?"
The 10-card rule, which awards PGA Tour membership to the top-10 players in the DP World Tour's Race To Dubai not already exempt to play in the U.S., is of particular concern for Westwood, who believes the arrangement is draining quality from Europe.
"Yeah, it's going to certainly suit certain players for going over there whose ambitions are to play the PGA Tour. But from a business point of view, it can't be good for the European Tour to give your 10 best players every year, 10 of your best assets, away to what is a rival tour," he said.
"When you're looking at the schedule and where tournaments are played from January to August, which is what the PGA Tour seems to be focused on, even though those 10 cards aren't getting in the biggest events over there. They're getting in a few of the events.
"I'm not a huge fan of it. The fans don't get to build up a relationship with the top players coming through on the European Tour because they don't see them often enough for long enough now. One decent year and you're off to the other side, right?
"Those 10 players that might have played with legends of the European Tour for another couple of years and been in those TV groups where the fans can build up a relationship with them and see them often now don't play in those TV groups. It's kind of one year, and then they're off.
"It's a short-term view, I think. The winners in it are the PGA Tour because for 10 players going over there, they're maybe going to pick up one future star. But that's not great for the European Tour."
