Several players were fined £100k by the DP World Tour for competing with LIV Golf and have since settled their debt, with the tour waiting on just one former member to divvy up.
The man in question?
Sergio Garcia.
On Wednesday, the tour released a statement reporting,”The DP World Tour today confirmed it has received membership resignations from Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Richard Bland and Lee Westwood who were sanctioned for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation committed last June.”
Sanctions and fines were imposed on 17 players in total, something the tour says was “a consequence of their own choices,” and has now revealed that 16 of those have paid the fine – around $126,000. Garcia is the lone debtor.
The four were among many that challenged the punishments, initially finding judgement in their favor and allowing them to compete at some of the most respected of European events, including the flagship BMW Championship at Wentworth.
However, nine months later, Sports Resolutions finally reached a verdict in favor of the ruling tour. The verdict allows further sanctions to be handed out to rebel players, prompting Wednesday’s resignations.
During the Masters in April, the former Ryder Cup star said he was unaware of this latest update on the European side of his career.
“How can I talk about something I don’t know?” he said. “Obviously I don’t look at the news, so I don’t know what happened. I’m not going to talk about something without all the information that I need.”
The 2017 Masters champion also said he wasn’t ruling out a return to the DP World Tour, saying he will “see how the year goes”. Latest revelation reveal that to be something of a long-shot.
Thursday’s updated statement states, “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.”
The statement concludes there is more news to follow,“Details of further sanctions for players who breached the Conflicting Tournament Regulation by playing in subsequent conflicting events without a release, will be announced next week.”
