Report: Sergio Garcia Attempted Last-Minute Ryder Cup U-Turn

When it comes to the Ryder Cup there aren't many players who you associate with the tournament more than Sergio Garcia. Not only is he the record points scorer with 28.5 points, but he has been present on multiple European sides throughout his career.

However, since his move to LIV Golf and the relinquishing of his DP World Tour membership, it's unlikely that we will see the Spaniard in a European Ryder Cup side, despite a recent report by The Telegraph stating that Garcia made a last-ditch attempt to be part of Luke Donald's side in Rome at the end of September.

Per The Telegraph's James Corrigan, a Tour insider explained that the 43-year-old "suddenly came to us and said that not only would he pay the £100,000 but also all of the outstanding fines if he was allowed to play,” with the source estimating the complete bill at more than £700,000.

The insider added: “They also said they’d play in whatever events we wanted, apart from those that clashed with 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. It was all a bit bizarre as that was made clear all along. As it is, Sergio remains the only one of the LIV players not to have paid the original £100,000 fine. Lee Westwood has paid, Ian Poulter has paid… but Sergio still hasn’t.”

Back in May 2023, the DP World Tour revealed that Garcia was the only one of the 17 players fined for joining LIV Golf who was yet to pay up the £100,000 fine, with the report stating: “The DP World Tour today confirmed that 16 out of 17 players have paid their fines which were imposed for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation last June".

In the statement, it went on to say: "Sergio Garcia has not paid his £100,000 fine, nor has he given any indication that he intends to. We will therefore take appropriate action if he continues not to respect the Sport Resolutions panel’s decision. As confirmed yesterday, Garcia announced his resignation from the DP World Tour alongside Richard Bland, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood."

Following the news, Garcia admitted in August that he is disappointed that he won't be playing in this year's Ryder Cup, but did claim that "hopefully there will be a way back and something that we can work on, and we'll see what happens in the future,” following the news of a merger between the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.