LIV star takes advantage of DP World Tour loophole to claim breakthrough win

LIV Golf player Laurie Canter made the most of his opportunity on the DP World Tour, winning the European Open in Germany on Sunday.

Bath-born Canter was the co-leader heading into the final round at Green Eagle near Hamburg, and he held off the chasing pack with a one-under-par round of 72 on Sunday, defeating Thriston Lawrence and former LIV star Bernd Wiesberger by two shots.

It was the 34-year-old’s first win on the DP World Tour and just his second victory as a professional – the other came in 2015 on the Jamega Pro Golf Tour. He receives the biggest slice of a £2million purse, banking £334,000 for his breakthrough win.

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Canter, who turned professional in 2011, was a founding member of LIV Golf and spent the 2022 season as a member of the Cleeks. But he lost his roster spot in 2023 and had to settle for a reserve role. But he still played in 11 of the 14 events, finishing 44th in the end-of-season standings.

The 34-year-old attempted to earn a full-time spot on the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour at the LIV Promotions event in December, but he lost out by the narrowest of margins, coming up short in a two-for-three playoff. He has resumed his role as a reserve player this season, finishing 15th and 21st in Mayakoba and Las Vegas respectively for just short of £400,000 in prize money.

With his LIV status uncertain, Canter has been able to play five DP World Tour events this season while still being able to play on LIV. The DP World Tour issues a suspension of up to eight tournaments and fines players up to £100,000 when its members play in LIV events, but due to Canter’s low position in the DP World Tour rankings, his sanctions have been at the lower end of the scale, making it possible for him to juggle commitments on both tours.

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Canter made more than 200 starts without a win on a major tour, suffering several near misses, and he cut an emotional figure on the 18th green as he finally enjoyed his moment of glory. He told Sky Sports: “This is all I’ve wanted to do since I turned pro and even before I was a pro, so it’s really hard to rationalise, but I’m really happy.

“It went my way today when in the past it hasn’t. Probably now that I’ve done it, I look back at when I didn’t do it and it wasn’t so much what I was doing; it was other people [snatching victory]. It happened for me today and I think from my perspective, I kept putting one foot in front of the other. I know how to play golf.

“Even on 18, I was thinking about the past and things that could go wrong, so it was good to hit it on the right side of the fairway where I wanted it. It will probably take a while to digest everything that has happened.”

After his victory, Canter is expected to climb to eighth in the Race To Dubai Rankings, with 10 PGA Tour cards on offer at the end of the season to the best players who do not already hold an exemption. He also won a place in the Scottish Open, which takes place a week before next month’s Open Championship.