British Golf Open: Petrodollars also hit the Ryder | Sports

The great lady of golf is in danger. The war between the American and European golf tours and the Saudi league is getting bloodier and bloodier. The victims fall. And the blows are already reaching a competition as symbolic as the Ryder Cup. The resignation of Sergio García from the European circuit after being fined for entering the new competition has bigger consequences than a name being struck off a list. The 42-year-old from Castellón will not be able to play in the biannual duel between Europe and the United States, the next edition of which will be held in Rome from September 29 to October 1, 2023, because he loses the status of a selectable player.

With García, not only falls a myth of the Ryder, the champion with six titles, the man with the most points (28.5) and games won (25) in the history of one of the top sports. His loss is a missile in the spirit of a tournament that the best golfers in the world wait for every two years to test the strengths of two empires, an appointment that no one wants to skip despite the fact that neither receives a dollar or euro for having played there. . Glory is priceless. Amid the conflict between the PGA Tour and the European Tour and LIV Golf, the Ryder still remained an oasis outside of checkbook charm. Until the intersection of expulsions, sanctions and slamming of doors threatens to blow everything up.

Europe will lose Sergio García, one of its great banners, if peace is not signed first. El Niño was one of the golfers fined 116,000 euros by the European Tour after signing up for the inaugural Saudi League tournament in London, an eight-game series that hands out $255 million in prize money and has caused many stars to flee. Angered by the fine after 23 years of service, the man from Castellón resigned despite the pain caused by the separation from the Ryder, the competition he loves the most because of the team feeling that emerges in cabin. The tear is greater when the duel returns to Europe next year, after the Parisian party of 2018, and when he begins to form a very solid couple with Jon Rahm.

Other European LIV Golf affiliates such as Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood are also a foot and a half away. Meanwhile, the Saudi league is preparing a shot at the heart of the mainland team. The signing of Swede Henrik Stenson, current European captain of the Ryder, is about to drop. The hunt would not only force the search for a new manager, but it would be a symbolic transfer, a mental reinforcement for the rebels when the cracks opened on the other side. Garcia accused Thomas Björn, Danish player and captain of Europe dueling in Paris, to show him the way out the wrong way. Rahm came to his compatriot’s defense and issued a warning to rectors. “The best event that advertises golf in the world is the Ryder and that Sergio, the best player that Europe has given, cannot be there because of this stupidity, it bothers me and puts me angry,” he lamented after the British Open. The world number five, so far a big supporter of the US Tour, urged PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, European Tour chairman Keith Pelley and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman to s sit down and come to an agreement.

The clash also bled the American team. The PGA of America will hardly summon those who have betrayed the parent company, starters like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed. Many important names are gradually disappearing on both sides. The competition that the best golfers in the world play for free falters for a handful of petrodollars.

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