Sergio Garcia, one of the biggest names to join the breakaway LIV Golf Series, has said he has changed his mind about giving up his DP World Tour membership as he does not want to risk losing his Ryder Cup eligibility.
Garcia said at the Open in St Andrews last week that he would resign from the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, in a move that would follow his decision to give up his PGA Tour card upon joining the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Invitational.
While the PGA Tour have said that any player who joins the LIV Golf Series, which continues at its third event in New Jersey this week, will be banned from future events, the DP World Tour have yet to issue suspensions, after a group of stars threatened to take legal action ahead of the Scottish Open earlier this month.
However, the subject of the Ryder Cup continues to prove decisive, with Henrik Stenson being stripped of the European captaincy last week after becoming the latest player to join LIV Golf. Jon Rahm, Garcia’s Spanish compatriot, also lamented the potential loss of Europe’s all-time leading points scorer at future Ryder Cups as a result of LIV Golf.
“When I finished the Open Sunday, I said that I was most likely going to resign my membership from the [DP World] Tour,” Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion, told ESPN. “That obviously meant not being eligible for the Ryder Cup because you have to be a member.
“But thanks to the things that Jon Rahm said, and I had a couple of good conversations with guys on the [DP World] Tour, I’m going to hold off on that. I want to at least see what’s happening when the Ryder Cup qualification starts. See what kind of rules and eligibilities they have in there. If I agree with what they [are],
“I’ll definitely keep playing whatever I can on the tour and try to qualify for that Ryder Cup team. And if not, then we’ll move on. But it is definitely something that is in my mind.”
After finishing his fourth round at St Andrews last week, Garica told reporters that his resignation from the DP World Tour would be imminent. “Honestly, I want to play where they love me. I like to feel loved and sincerely in the European Tour I don’t feel loved now,” he said.
Garcia is still set to join the 48-player field in Bedminster this week for the third event of the LIV Golf Series.
