Rahm and Hatton remain members of the DP World Tour although they now ply their trade on the LIV circuit. Each time they participate in the Separatist League, they must request to be released from the establishment tour if they hold a tournament simultaneously.
The DP World Tour generally denies such waivers, which then puts players in violation of the rules. Fines of up to £100,000 and tournament suspensions are then imposed.
Last year, these sanctions prompted Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia to resign their memberships, making them ineligible for the Ryder Cup.
The sanctions were deemed fair by an independent arbitration panel which released its findings just over a year ago.
“We take everything on a case-by-case basis,” Kinnings said. “Everything must be done in a fair, reasonable and proportionate way – that’s what Sports Resolutions has spoken out about.”
The new CEO admitted that suspensions could be imposed for weeks when the punished player may not be looking to play on the DP World Tour anyway.
Kinnings also said he was informed there were enough weeks in the calendar for LIV players to serve their time while still participating in the four events required to maintain their membership.
“All suspensions will count and you will have to serve them,” Kinnings said. “And the guys who analyzed this in detail said if they do it the right way, there’s no reason why they can’t play the Ryder Cup.
“We are not going to change anything based on this. Rules are rules and they apply to every member.
“We are not in a position to change rules that we have had to defend in court.”
Kinnings says a “compromise” will be necessary for the game to come together and end the ongoing civil war. He believes that the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yasir Al-Rumayyan, has an incentive to find a settlement.
“It must be better for the professional game to find one product and he’s a very smart guy. He will know,” Kinnings said.
“Everyone is going to have to give a little to get where they need to be. The more headlines you read about falling viewing figures, the more people realize that if they don’t act quickly, lasting damage will be done.
“And I don’t think Yasir wants to harm the game, he clearly loves the game.”
But Kinnings admitted that, despite announcing a “framework agreement” 10 months ago, a meeting between all parties involved – the PIF, the PGA and DP World Tours – to discuss the future was not forthcoming. has not yet taken place.
Since the deal was announced, the PGA Tour has received a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) investment from US group Strategic Sports, while LIV has spent hundreds of millions for the signings of leading Europeans Rahm, Hatton and Adrian Meronk.
Kinnings welcomed McIlroy’s recent return to the PGA Tour’s influential policy council. “I think his voice will be really, really important,” Kinnings said.
“We just need to get this negotiation started. I have a feeling this should happen pretty soon.
McIlroy’s vision for the future involves accepting investment from Saudi Arabia and developing a “world tour” with the PGA and DP World tours.
“What do the fans want to see? asked Kinnings. “They want to see the best players playing together as often as possible, as well as the majors.
“It’s a model that I find very attractive, but that’s only part of the picture.
“Obviously if we want to find a solution we will have to think about how we integrate team golf in one way or another and that is to satisfy what has been with LIV, but also to recognize that we all love team golf.”
Kinnings says he’s “hopeful” the game’s future will become clearer in the coming months, but doesn’t anticipate any significant change until 2026. “We know we need to try to resolve this as soon as possible,” said Kinnings. he declared.
“The reality is that the 2026 season must be the one where there are significant changes.
“To do this, it must be done by the end of 2024 to give ourselves 2025 to prepare and deploy it. I will do everything in my power to encourage people to make a decision as quickly as possible.
“The truth is that people have to do things they never thought they would have to do and they have to be willing to compromise. If we find a solution, we’ll have to act quickly to make it work, but first people need to get in a room to talk about it.
