Sergio Garcia attempted to pay £700,000 in fines to the DP World Tour in order to regain his eligibility for this year’s Ryder Cup, according to the Telegraph. The DP World Tour declined Garcia’s offer as the 2023 Ryder Cup is set to begin Sept. 29 at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy.
“They also said they’d play in whatever events we wanted, apart from those that clashed with the remaining LIV tournaments,” the Telegraph’s source stated. “But it was explained that, despite the ongoing peace talks, as he had resigned his membership, he is not eligible to join until next year. It was all a bit bizarre as that was made clear all along.”
In order to play for the European Ryder Cup team, one must be a member of the DP World Tour. In early May, Garcia was among four players, alongside Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland, to resign his membership in order to avoid additional fines for breaching the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation by playing in LIV Golf events.
Garcia stated later that month at LIV Golf DC that captain Luke Donald made it clear he had “no chance” to be a member of the 2023 Ryder Cup team and the conversation was influential in his resignation.
Despite this, the 43-year-old saw a sliver of hope when the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund announced on June 6 its landmark agreement to house commercial operations under a new for-profit entity. An aspect of the agreement included free movement for players between tours starting after this season with more specifics to come.
Garcia’s absence in Rome could be notable; he’s one of the greatest Ryder Cup players ever. He extended his all-time points record to 28.5 points at Whistling Straits in 2021 with a dominating performance alongside then-world No. 1 Jon Rahm in the team portion of the competition. The Spaniard became the all-time leader in most foursomes points won with 13.5 and joined Ian Woosnam and José María Olazábal for most fourball points won with 10.5. He compiled a 25-13-7 record across 10 Ryder Cups.