Sergio Garcia reportedly made a last ditch effort to play in this month’s Ryder Cup but his attempt was turned down.
According to an article published by James Corrigan in the Telegraph on Sunday, Garcia attempted to pay his outstanding fine to the DP World Tour for defacing to LIV Golf which was reportedly in the region of £700,000 in the hope that he would become eligible to play for Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team in Rome.
DP World Tour officials are said to have rejected Garcia’s proposal because he resigned his tour membership which disqualified him from being eligible for the European team meaning he could not regain his membership in time for this year’s biennial contest with the USA.
In April the DP World Tour won its legal battle against LIV Golf with a UK arbitration panel ruling that the 16 of 17 players who left for LIV had to pay the fines levied against them with Sergio Garcia the only player to not pay.
“Sergio Garcia has not paid his £100,000 fine, nor has he given any indication that he intends to,” read the statement. “We will therefore take appropriate action if he continues not to respect the Sport Resolutions panel’s decision.”
The DP World Tour also confirmed that Garcia had resigned his tour membership meaning he and fellow European players on LIV would be ineligible for this month’s Ryder Cup.
The Spaniard is ranked 17th in LIV Golf’s season-long standings and appeared in just two majors this year, his best finish a T-27 at the U.S. Open. Garcia has not posted a top-10 at a major since his Masters victory in 2017.
Garcia’s compatriot Jon Rahm said at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last week that not having him involved in some capacity was ‘stupid.’
“I think it would be really stupid of anybody not to lean on Sergio Garcia’s experience in the Ryder Cup.
“I mean, he is the best player Europe has ever had, won the most points and has shown it time and time again. If he were able to be a vice-captain, I absolutely would lean on him. Same as we are going to lean on (José María Olazábal) this coming Ryder Cup, right.”
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