Less than a week after taking a hard stance against LIV Golf players getting an easy path back to the DP World Tour, Joost Luiten is putting his money where his mouth is.
The 40-year-old Dutchman, a six-time winner on the European Tour, fired a second consecutive 68 on Friday to move among the leaders at the DP World India Championship in New Delhi.
Aside from a double bogey at No. 8, his 17th hole of the day, Luiten was dialed in at Delhi Golf Club. He's tied with Angel Hidalgo and Adrian Meronk at 8 under, although many didn't finish their second round on Friday due to lightning through the first two days. Thomas Detry was also 8 under, but had only played six holes.
More importantly, Luiten continues to climb in the Race to Dubai. He entered
the week at No. 67, good enough to qualify for the season-ending playoffs, but at his current pace he is projected to crack the top 30.
"It was good for 17 holes, and then my 17, the eighth hole, double bogey, which normally you would say it's a birdie hole. I think the long day and the tiredness just got to me at the end, and luckily I could finish with a birdie on the 9th, but yeah, it's been a good day," Luiten said. "It's old school, you know, you don't have to hit it long. You have to hit it straight. You have to hit the greens. It's great to play. I love it."
The timing is notable considering what Luiten had to say earlier in the week.
The DP World Tour has decided that players who sign with LIV Golf for 2027 will not be eligible for DP World Tour membership. Because only DP World Tour members can represent Europe in the Ryder Cup, European players who commit to the next iteration of LIV would also make themselves ineligible for the 2027 matches at Adare Manor.
That could have significant implications for players such as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, two LIV golfers who have remained central figures on recent European Ryder Cup teams and maintained their DP World Tour membership.
Luiten, meanwhile, has been outspoken about LIV players potentially using the DP World Tour as a route back into traditional professional golf and, ultimately, the PGA Tour. He told Ben Parsons of Today's Golfer that players who left shouldn't simply be allowed to return with the same privileges they once enjoyed.
“It means they made their decision and now they should deal with the consequences. They should make it harder for guys to come back. Four years ago, they didn’t give a shit about the DP World Tour,” Luiten said. “They made a decision to go after the money. And now all of a sudden, the money is gone and they want to come back and act like nothing happened. I don’t think that’s right. There should be a rule that if you gave up your membership you lose all your exemption rights as well. Then you have to stay a member if you want to ever come back to this tour.
“A lot of the guys gave up their membership and now they come back like nothing happened and then they become a member again and they get all the rights that they had before they left. If they think that they are that good then show it at Q School and beat the guys. That’s how every other guy that wants to play on this tour has to go.”
Luiten was just as blunt when it came to tournament invitations.
“Why give them invites? If I apply for an invite if I’m not in a tournament, I’m not going to get it because it’s all going to the LIV guys. There’s only a certain amount of invites,” he said. “Invites should be for young talent coming through and not guys that took the piss against this tour and now they want to come back and they get invites. I’m not a big fan of that.”
Luiten acknowledged the other side of the argument. Big names can bring attention to tournaments, and the DP World Tour is ultimately running a business. But he questioned whether spots should go to established veterans such as Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter at the expense of younger players trying to establish careers.
“I understand the tour’s view because they see it as a product and our tour might be stronger with some of the big names,” Luiten said. “But on the other hand, the guys that are wanting to come back like Lee Westwood. He’s probably at the end of his career, Ian Poulter, too. Great names, and don’t get me wrong and they’ve done great things for the European Tour and the Ryder Cups. But they’re not in their prime.
“Do you have to give those guys their spots instead of young kids that might make this tour even better in the next 10 or 20 years and now they might not get a chance to come on?
“That’s why it’s a difficult decision because the DP World Tour is a business and they need to make money and they need to grow the product and they need to make sure that the fans come to the golf course and they watch it on TV. So some of those names might be a help.
“But on the other hand, they didn’t give a shit about the DP World Tour. And now, all of a sudden, you want to have those guys that basically said ‘we don’t give a shit about you’ back?”
For now, Luiten is making his case on the course, too.
He entered the week with two top-15 finishes in his previous three DP World Tour starts and said improved health has allowed his game to begin trending in the right direction again.
"I struggled with some injuries in the middle of the season, you know, so that doesn't really help. Luckily, now, it's all a little bit better so I can practice a little bit more, and then you can work on your game," Luiten said. "I'm just happy that the body's feeling better and the game's coming better back to me."
Tim Schmitt is the managing editor of Golfweek and the golf coordinator of the USA Today Network.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Fresh off hostile LIV Golf comments, DP World Tour player tied for lead in India
