Sergio Garcia announced today after finishing the fourth round of the The Open Championship who will also leave the European circuit. It has not yet been officially communicated to the DP World Tour, but it will be in the next few hours. “I like to play where they want me and on the European Tour at the moment I don’t feel loved,” Sergio said at the end of the fourth and final Grand Championship of the year.
Sergio, in this way, will cease to be a member of the European Touryou will therefore not be able to play the tournaments and you will not be eligible for the Ryder Cup. Let us remember that a few weeks ago he made the same decision regarding the PGA Tour. In this way, Sergio, for now, will only be able to play the tournaments of LIV Golf and we’ll see what happens with the Augusta Masters. Today, he would be ranked as a past winner, as long as the Masters ranking criteria doesn’t change or, directly, they decide not to give invitations to certain players.
Among the explanations he offered, García revealed a very unpleasant episode that had as its protagonist Thomas Bjorn during BMW International Open. The Dane berated some of the players who went to LIV Golf and told them he didn’t want to see him there, according to the golfer from Borriol. “I’m so sorry. It’s not pretty and I’m old enough and sick enough to put up with things like this. I’ve given more than half my life to the European Tour and I wanted to keep playing it, but I won’t be where they don’t want me. It’s very sad to receive such treatment for a personal and professional decision. If they treat you like that, there’s no point in continuing. is the first time that I make a decision thinking only of myself and my family without leaving the Europe Tower because I didn’t want to leave him. We’re going to take what we have and we’re going to play where they want us. I haven’t communicated it officially yet, but I will,” he said.
So, until there is a resolution to this schism that exists in world golf, either with the parties sitting down to negotiate at the same table, which seems highly unlikely today, Sergio Garcia he will only play the LIV Golf tournaments and also those he wants from the Asian Tour, whether they are the regular ones or the Invitational Series. This is where you will be able to redeem World Ranking Points while LIV Golfs are not in the system. “If I don’t play more greats, then I don’t play more greats. That’s what it is. I’m a little sorry for the Ryder, but the way I play, I’m not here to play Ryder either. I wanted to continue on the European Tour, but not this way. There are things that can be done differently. It’s not the best way. What they are doing makes me very sad because the European Tour is going to become the fifth World Tour,” he said.
It should also be remembered that the DP World Tour already sanctioned European Tour member golfers who have played the first round of LIV Golf In London. Concretely, they were fined more than 120,000 euros plus a ban on playing hybrid tournaments with the PGA Tour. Now we are waiting for the next sanction for those who played in Portland. This has not yet been formalized. In this way, Sergio, as happened with the PGA Tour, also avoids receiving sanctions, both in the form of financial fines and a ban from playing certain tournaments. In a way, he remains on the sidelines of the war until a solution is found. If found…
As for Open ChampionshipSergio leaves Saint Andrew discouraged. He signed a last round of 73 shots for a total of -2, for the moment placed 67th, very far from where he would have liked to be. He continues to work to improve his mental part, surely the sector of his golf which is currently the weakest. “I’m taking little this week. I hit the ball well, but nothing else. I saw little progress mentally. Every time I made a mistake, it cost me dearly. In the 7th I had a putt to put three less and it tied me and the next one too and from now on everything is upside down, not very far but in a week everything is not going well arrange. It’s complicated, I’ve been accepting things for many years and there comes a time when you get tired,” he says.
Likewise, he has raised the possibility of this being his last Open at St Andrews. “If it’s 2030, it will be difficult to be there and even more so when things turn against us (because of the LIV Golf problem). But everything has an end in life. That’s what If it was my last Open it would be a disappointment not to have won it because I have been close a few times and I love this tournament and the public, the best in the world. But sometimes you don’t get what you want. I have very good memories here. Unfortunately I couldn’t play against Seve on the Old Course because when I arrived here he was already retired. Too bad , but hey, there are other very good things.