Sergio Garcia is holding off on resigning from the DP World Tour, a week after he said he was leaving because he “didn’t feel loved”.
The Spaniard was one of the first high-profile names to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series. The PGA Tour has indefinitely suspended members who played without permission on the Saudi-backed rival circuit, so he resigned his PGA Tour membership in June ahead of LIV’s debut event outside London.
After finishing 68th in The Open Championship last week, Garcia told Spanish media he would “probably” leave the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour), which has penalized but not banned LIV golfers indefinitely. It came with the realization that he would not qualify for selection for future Ryder Cups.
“I want to play where I feel loved, and right now on the European Tour I don’t feel loved,” Garcia said at the time.
But according to ESPN Monday, Garcia said meaningful conversations with members of the tour and recent comments from compatriot Jon Rahm have him pumping the brakes on a DP World Tour exit. Rahm had said it “disturbed” him that players like Garcia could be shut out of the Ryder Cup.
“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 wait on it,” Garcia told ESPN. “I want to at least see what happens when the Ryder Cup qualifiers start. See what kind of rules and permissions they have there.
“If I agree with what they (are), I’ll definitely continue to play what I can on the tour and try to qualify for that Ryder Cup team. And if not, we’ll move on. But it’s definitely something that’s there in my thoughts.”
That development does not guarantee that the DP World Tour will try to play nice with LIV Golf and its members.
“I told Keith Pelley (CEO of the DP World Tour), ‘I want to remain a member of the DP World Tour. I want to play my minimum, still support the tour, still have my eligibility to make Ryder Cup teams,’” Garcia said. He said, “It’s good, but we have to do what’s best for us. We’ll see what that is.”
Henrik Stenson of Sweden joined LIV Golf last week and handed over his European captaincy for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.
Since 1999, Garcia has been part of all but one European Ryder Cup team (2010). He has been a part of six winning teams while compiling a career record of 25-13-7. He is the all-time Ryder Cup scoring leader with 28 1/2 points.
–Field Level Media
Source: sn.dk
