03 May 2023 , 17:21
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British golf star Eddie Pepperell has hit out at fellow professionals Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, with the trio set to resign their DP World Tour memberships due to their LIV Golf allegiances.
Some of Europe's biggest names made the controversial decision to join the LIV Golf setup, including the three stalwarts of Garcia, Westwood and Poulter. Their switch has come at a cost though, having been sanctioned by both the PGA and DP World Tour.
Initially all LIV Golf stars had their memberships with the PGA Tour suspended, whilst the DP World Tour opted to issue £100,000 fines, as well as tournament bans.
The DP World Tour's sanctions were appealed by a group of LIV stars, which proved initially proved successful. Nine months on though, a final verdict ruled in favour of the Tour, upholding the decision to punish those who compete on the Saudi-funded series.
On Tuesday it was reported by the Daily Telegraph that those that are part of the LIV roster were set to hand in their Tour memberships with the £100,000 due for payment. The ruling proves to be a sad end for the likes of Poulter, Garcia and Westwood, who have been pivotal to Europe's recent successes at the Ryder Cup over their American rivals.
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One man who has no sympathy for the trio though is Pepperell, who believes the LIV stars could well aid the potential demise of the DP World Tour. He told the Telegraph : "If this happens and we look back and conclude that LIV Golf put the knife into the back of the European Tour, how are Westwood and Poulter and Sergio [Garcia] and these guys going to feel about themselves knowing they have been complicit?
Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter both joined LIV Golf last summer (Getty Images)"I rooted for Sergio, the player. It's hard to root for Sergio, the man. The way these guys speak, quite gleefully, about what they've done, well, it's just disappointing." Pepperell himself was embroiled in more LIV controversy late last month, after being wound up in a Twitter spat with fellow pro Richard Bland.
Bland initially slammed Pepperell's experience on Tour, to which he described as '15 minutes'. The Englishman was quick to fire back, writing: "In my 15 minutes I won more events than you did in 22 years." A day later the LIV rebel quickly backtracked and apologised to Pepperell, blaming his outburst on too much alcohol.
"Unfortunately I did have too many last (night) Ed.. & I apologise for what I said.. I should know better not to tweet under the influence," Bland wrote. Pepperell accepted the apology, but the LIV star went on to delete his Twitter account on the back of the spat.