Sergio Garcia offered to clear his $700,000 fines in desperate last ditch attempt to play in Ryder Cup
The European Team for the 2023 Ryder Cup will not see Sergio Garcia be a part of it. Despite being an important member of the past teams, he was denied entry into this year's team after he gave up his DP World Tour membership to join the LIV Golf series.
In a last ditch attempt, Sergio Garcia agreed to pay his $700,000 in outstanding fines. However, he was denied by the DP World Tour, stating that he was probably too late, and had no chance of making the team this year.
Sergio Garcia is the all-time leading scorer at the Ryder Cup. When he joined the LIV Golf series, he refused to pay the $100,000 fine that came with it, and instead handed in his card to the DP World Tour.
Despite his close friendship with captain Luke Donald, his rekindled bond with Rory McIlroy and the new PGA Tour LIV Golf merger, Garcia was unable to get his way back into the Ryder Cup team. An inside source said via Yahoo.com:
“They suddenly came to us and said that not only would he pay the £100,000 but also all of the outstanding fines if was allowed to play."
Sergio Garcia misses out on 2023 Ryder Cup team despite willingness to pay his fine
While Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have paid their fines, Sergio Garcia has not. Not only does this mean that he has resigned from the DP World Tour, but also that he cannot reapply for membership until next year.
“They also said they’d play in whatever events we wanted, apart from those that clashed Swith the remaining LIV tournaments. 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."
Several golfers have rallied in favor of Garcia being on the team, including Jon Rahm, who thinks his valuable experience will come in handy more than the team realises. However, Garcia is currently forced to stay at home and support team Europe from a distance.
He hopes that the case will be a bit different next time, with the new PGA Tour x PIF framework agreement taking place.