When LIV Golf was about to be launched in 2022, it started discussions with the DP World Tour to join hands. So, the PGA Tour did what it had to: bring the DPWT on its side. But now, with PIF cutting ties with LIV, is the European Tour next? No, it isn’t, if Brian Rolapp’s verbal assurance to Rory McIlroy & Co. is to be believed.

PIF cut ties with LIV after pouring in over $5 billion, and now the league’s future is unsure. It may or may not survive in the long run. If that competition goes, Poulter warned the DP World Tour, the PGA Tour might also stop funding it. But at Quail Hollow last week, Rolapp said that the Tour will continue the current strategic alliance framework at least until 2032, and will continue to back it financially.

What makes things challenging for the PGA Tour is that it is no longer a non-profit organization. The Tour took $1.5 billion of private‑equity capital and launched its for-profit organization. Thus, there is pressure on Rolapp to show a return on investment. Maybe as a result, over 50 staff members were laid off in April 2026. This signals a broader cost‑discipline drive and a willingness to trim less-core operations.

The DP World Tour is costing the PGA Tour millions of dollars. Within the alliance framework, the PGA Tour has helped increase the minimum prize pools for events. Now, most events on the DP World Tour are worth more than $2.5 million. That was not the case before the organizations on both sides of the Atlantic had joined hands.

Having said that, it is also true that Rolapp would not want to upset golfers like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Rose, who have outspokenly supported the European league and mentioned growing the game globally. Just like Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy is the face of the PGA Tour. He brings a lot of fans, followers, and audience with him.

Moreover, the DP World Tour has produced many elite players for the PGA Tour. All those who finish in the top 10 in the Race to Dubai rankings and don’t already have a PGA Tour card get one and show their talent there.

Rory McIlroy is not just vocally supporting his home tour; he has also found a silver lining in LIV Golf’s potential demise.

Rory McIlroy is excited to potentially see star players on the DP World Tour

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has said that he is doing everything in his power to keep LIV afloat. He hired Ducera Partners and rejoined hands with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Some board-level management changes have also been made, all in an attempt to address the financial troubles the rebel league is facing.

Despite all of this, the Northern Irishman believes that if LIV Golf were to shut down, it could benefit the DP World Tour. When news broke that PIF was stopping funding for LIV Golf, rumors began that LIV golfers were reaching out to the European Tour. This is because it provides a path back to the PGA Tour, and that has got Rory McIlroy excited.

“I don’t know, but maybe this means that they go play the DP World Tour, because that’s a pathway [to the PGA Tour],” McIlroy said. “That would make the DP World Tour stronger, and I would be delighted with that.”

Many elites, including Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann, and others, could start playing on the DP World Tour.

This would strengthen the circuit that many feared could be abandoned in a post-LIV landscape. That possibility also explains why Brian Rolapp’s assurances to Rory McIlroy and Europe’s leading stars may carry far more weight than they initially appeared to.

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