Sergio Garcia is on his way to being Ryder Cup eligible again.
The 44-year-old Spaniard, who joined LIV Golf in 2022 and officially resigned his DP World Tour membership in May 2023, has applied for reinstatement on the European circuit ahead of Sunday’s deadline, a DP World Tour spokesperson told bunkered.co.uk, which first reported the story.
According to bunkered’s report, Garcia will pay his outstanding fines, totaling over 1 million euros, and will also have to serve a suspension before competing in DP World Tour events next year. Once Garcia satisfies those requirements, he will be eligible to compete in the 2025 Ryder Cup in September at Bethpage Black, provided he also tees it up in his minimum four tournaments next season.
Before joining LIV, Garcia had been a fixture on European Ryder Cup teams, making nine straight appearances, the most recent coming in 2021 at Whistling Straits, and compiling a 25-13-7 record. While he’s dropped to No. 415 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Garcia just wrapped up an impressive season on LIV. He finished third in the league’s individual standings behind a victory and three runner-up finishes. He also tied for 12th at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst back in June.
Luke Donald, who is set for his second stint as European Ryder Cup captain next year, was asked last month about Garcia.
“He thinks he can play,” Donald said. “He wants to play. I don’t think he has talked to me about being an assistant captain, but again, he would have to re-join the tour for him to be eligible. He’s certainly very interested in doing that. He understands everything that’s involved and again, the decision has to go to him whether he’s prepared to do all that. But certainly we’ve had that discussion.”
Donald added: “If you fulfill the regulations and the rules that the DP World Tour set, then you’re eligible. There’s a bunch of LIV guys that play on LIV who are eligible now so that I can pick them at will.”
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