Sergio Garcia Set For DP World Tour Return At Bahrain Championship

Sergio Garcia is making his first DP World Tour start in over three months at this week's Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship.

The Ryder Cup record points scorer is playing on a sponsor's invite at Royal Golf Club after he gave up his DP World Tour membership when he failed to make Luke Donald's team for Bethpage Black.

The Spaniard is one of four LIV Golfers in the field this week along with defending champion Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry and Patrick Reed, who revealed he had not yet renewed his LIV contract after winning the Dubai Desert Classic.

Garcia played just twice on the DP World Tour last year, below the minimum of four, and reportedly withdrew from the Irish Open once he found out he had not been picked for the Ryder Cup side.

He only rejoined the European circuit in order to make the team, which is said to have cost him, or LIV Golf, over $1m in fines for playing in LIV events without conflicting event releases.

The 46-year-old is ineligible for the 2027 team as things stand so will face the decision of rejoining again next season or missing out on a third consecutive Ryder Cup after last playing at Whistling Straits in 2021.

His compatriot Jon Rahm and other players including Tyrrell Hatton are currently keeping their DP World Tour memberships active while appealing their fines and sanctions. No date has been set for a hearing yet.

The DP World Tour is expected to come out on top after it won an arbitration panel hearing against LIV Golfers in 2023, which confirmed it was allowed to impose sanctions on its members for playing in competing events on LIV.

Jon Rahm has maintained he will not be paying his fines, with Rory McIlroy last week calling for the Spaniard and Tyrrell Hatton to settle them in order to prove they would pay to play for Team Europe - unlike the Americans who received payment for New York last year.

The 2026 LIV Golf season gets underway next week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while this week's Bahrain event marks the eighth tournament on the DP World Tour's International Swing.