Graeme McDowell has left the door open to a return to the DP World Tour if LIV Golf cannot secure the funding it needs to keep going in 2027. That makes his future one of the more significant LIV Golf news talking points, because it shows how quickly the landscape could shift for players who once seemed committed to life outside the traditional tour pathway.
McDowell said he and the DP World Tour have had good conversations this year, and that he plans to meet with them again in November. The key point is simple enough: if LIV Golf gets the backing it needs, he stays where he is; if it does not, he says he may simply become a European Tour player again.
McDowell keeps his options open
McDowell was clear about the position he now finds himself in. He said: “We’ve had good conversations this year,” before adding: “If LIV gets something done, great. If they don’t, then maybe I’m just a European Tour player - and we go from there. I’m lucky to have that option.”
That is a notable line, not because it guarantees anything, but because it confirms he is thinking practically about where the game may be heading. In a situation where tour structures, funding and player eligibility have all become intertwined, having an open route back matters.
The fines situation has changed the picture
The wider backdrop is that several former LIV players have now paid outstanding fines, which has reopened the possibility of a return to the DP World Tour. Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood both feature in that group, and their comments show how the mood has changed since the original punishments were handed down.
Westwood said: “I’m not paying them because I disagree with the way they’ve been handed out.” But he later explained that paying the fines created options at a time when the tour’s financial backers were being discussed. He added that he still did not agree with the fines, saying they were excessive and that the players were being treated differently.
Poulter took a different line, saying: “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.” He also noted that there are no fines in place today for players on LIV Golf, calling that “a massive change.”
What happens next?
For McDowell, the next marker is November, when he plans to meet the DP World Tour again. For LIV Golf, the bigger issue is whether CEO Scott O'Neil can find sponsorship to keep the tour going in 2027.
That is why McDowell’s comments matter beyond his own career. If LIV Golf does not get something done, the option of a return to the DP World Tour may become far more than a theoretical one for him and, potentially, for others in a similar position.
