Sergio Garcia plans to officially quit DP World Tour for LIV Golf: ‘I am not feeling loved’
Sergio Garcia apparently isn’t “feeling loved” anymore on the DP World Tour, so he’s calling it quits.
Garcia said after the British Open on Sunday that he intends to officially quit playing on his home circuit and compete on the LIV Golf Invitational Series full time. Garcia had already resigned from the PGA Tour, and he will now be ineligible to compete in any future Ryder Cups once his move from the DP World Tour, formerly known as the European Tour, is official.
"I am quite clear about what I am going to do with the European circuit. Probably leave it," Garcia told Spanish reporters, via ESPN. "I want to play where I feel loved, and right now in the European Tour I am not feeling loved.
"I am very happy with what I have achieved, and I am going to try to enjoy it. I will play less and will spend more time at home.”
Garcia, 42, has won 11 times in his PGA Tour career — including at the Masters in 2017, which marked his first and only major championship win. The Spaniard has won 16 times on the DP World Tour, too, and is currently ranked No. 69 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Garcia finished T68 at St. Andrews after going 1-over for the week.
Garcia’s move to join LIV Golf full time isn’t too surprising, both because of how clear he’s been about his frustrations of the PGA Tour — he erupted at a PGA Tour event earlier this year after an issue with a rules official — and the DP World Tour is in a battle with its members who jumped to the LIV Golf series.
While it’s unclear if Garcia and others will be allowed to compete in future major championships, he said he’s not worried about that. It’s the Ryder Cup that’s frustrating.
“If I cannot play any more major, that's the way it is, but it is not something that bothers me a lot,” Garcia said, via ESPN. “I am feeling sad because of the Ryder Cup but right now in the way I am playing I won't be selected."
As for the backlash he’s received for jumping to the controversial Saudi Arabian-backed golf league, Garcia is sick of it. Even former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn apparently called him out for joining the venture earlier this month, which Garcia made it sound like was his last straw.
"When Thomas Bjorn, former Ryder Cup captain, came to the BMW Championship and told us, 'We don't love any of you and all players say so.' ... I already have an age and had enough suffering to be enduring nonsense like that," Garcia said, via ESPN. "That's not pretty. I have given more than half my life to the European Tour and I wanted to continue playing it, but I am not going to be where they don't want me.
"It is very sad to receive such treatment for a personal and professional decision ... I feel sorry for the Ryder Cup, my resignation is not official, but I'm going to make it effective. I have what I have and I am very happy with it, and I want to enjoy it to the fullest.”
