Following a 2022 that has seen Sergio Garcia jump to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, it has now been revealed that Europe's all-time leading points scorer in the Ryder Cup is unlikely to feature at the 2023 event at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.
The news comes after Garcia, who has played all of the LIV Golf tournaments, missed the Friday deadline to enter the Mallorca Open, which is played on the DP World Tour. To qualify for the Ryder Cup, the 42-year-old has to tee it up in a minimum of four events, including one in his homeland, in order to retain his membership. However, with LIV Golf's final event in Doral clashing with the Mallorca Open, Garcia hasn't fulfilled the minimum entry requirement.
Garcia has won the Ryder Cup six times for Team Europe
First reported by El Pais that Garcia had missed the deadline, it will be just the second Ryder Cup he has missed since 1999, with the Spaniard Europe's leading points scorer with 28.5 points.
It is also worth noting that Garcia may not be the only LIV player to miss out on the Ryder Cup, with a court hearing date in February set to find out whether those who are part of LIV Golf can participate in DP World Tour events going forward, or whether sanctions will be put in place.
Currently, the PGA Tour has banned all LIV players from their events but, due to the DP World Tour being run separately, no bans have been put in place. There have already been a few incidents in court. Back in July, Ian Poulter, Justin Harding and Adrian Otaegui took legal action against their home Tour after they were banned from playing in the Scottish Open.
However, after a successful appeal, their bans were "temporarily stayed," with the subsequent injunction placed on the DP World Tour preventing them from suspending LIV Golf players until the outcome of the hearing, which we now know to be in February.
Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are just two of a number of players to join LIV Golf
Garcia's last DP World Tour appearance came at its flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship where, following a first round 76, he withdrew. However, just a day later he was spotted at a Texas football game and, following the sighting, reports emerged that he was facing a fine for not giving the DP World Tour a reason for his withdrawal.
