Sergio Garcia has confirmed he will not return to the DP World Tour until the BMW International Open in Munich in the first week of July after paying a hefty £1m fine. By Bernie McGuire, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Garcia Istated that the additional event ban imposed on him means that he will not be officially eligible to participate in a full DP World Tour event until event 26 of 42 events in 2024/25.
“I've paid the fine and I'm happy to move now and see what happens in September,” Garcia said..
“It's something that has always bothered me as Angela (wife) and I have discussed this situation often, so now that the issue has been resolved we will move on.
“At least now I have the possibility of automatically qualifying for the Luque team and I’ve been lucky enough to represent Europe on a number of occasions.
“It's not like I only played one game because I'm proud to wear the European jersey regularly.
“So, now I have a chance to advance, which is definitely a good thing for me, but I'm still going to play well enough that Luke might consider me for his team.”
Garcia resigned from DP World in May 2023 after the UK government-backed Sports Resolution Committee ruled in favor of the DP World Tour and approved its right to fine and ban players who participate in LIV golf events without permission Tour Membership.
DP World Tour later revealed that Garcia was the only player among the 17 players initially sanctioned who had not paid the £100,000 fine, “nor has he given any indication that he intended to do so”.
However, paying the £1m fine does not mean the DP World Tour is now open for Garcia as he has to meet the requirements of his suspension, which, as he revealed, means there are still more to come before him 6 months, or half way through the 2025 season. I will return to competition as a DP World Tour member.
“When I look at the LIV and Asian Tour schedule early next year, it means that after the lockdown, I won’t be able to play in Europe until the BMW International Open in July,” he said.
“It’s coming to the end of the season and I think realistically I have to perform well in the majors and make the most of it in other Ryder Cup qualifiers like BMW.
“Ultimately though, I just have to play well and if I don’t finish in the top six of the automatic qualifiers, then I’m going to have to rely on draft picks”.
If you are blindIWhen DP World Tour fans are able to see the 37-time champion Spaniard, it will be his first event since September 2022 when he withdrew after the first round of the tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship.
It is understood that if Donald does not select Garcia as a “wild card” pick at Bethpage Park, then he cannot be selected as vice-captain, although Garcia is not sure about this.
“I didn't know that, but I guess you could be picked as vice-captain, but that's something I didn't really think about,” he said.
Although Garcia has the recent Ryder Cup controversy on his mind, there are rumors that a dozen members of the U.S. team will be paid $400,000 each to compete at Bethpage Park next September.
“I wouldn't say I expect to get paid to play in the Ryder Cup, but the beauty of the Ryder Cup is if you're American, you're playing for pride and you're representing your country. If you're In European terms, your continent,” he said.
“That’s not consistent with the idea that you should be paid when the Ryder Cup was originally set up.
“I'm very grateful to be able to play in the Ryder Cup, I could have done it for free.”
This prompted Garcia to ask for his thoughts on the current state of the men's professional game.
“I think we're getting closer to a solution,” he said.
“Everything seems to be stabilizing which is good, it takes more time but it seems to be getting better every month”
I He spoke with Garcia on the brightly lit Riyadh court at around 6 p.m. local time and during the championship pro-am, which kicked off with a shotgun start at 2:30 p.m. local time, but he also knew The game will end in darkness.
Join Garcia and his two amateurs on the first and 10th teesth On the first hole of the round was Yasir Al-Rumayyan, a trustee of the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF), a supporter of the LIV Tour and Asia Tour, and a member of the The organizer of the 5th PIF Saudi Investment Open last week.
Rumayang, pictured with Garcia, teed left on the second hole after asking Garcia for “help” with the putting line on the first hole, Before walking up to Garcia and saying, “Okay, Sergio. That's me, see you tonight, okay? Are you coming?”
Sergio said: “Yes, of course. See you later”.
So, with Garcia's SUV driving down the second fairway, who do you think found His Excellency's golf ball?
Bernie spoke with Garcia on the opening day of the PIF Saudi International, where he shot a 72 in the first round.
Chinese Taipei player Zhang Weilun and Thailand player Sadom led the way with scores of 7 under par.
