DP World Tour Calls Out Sergio Garcia for Not Paying Huge Fine After Playing in LIV Golf
According to a release from the DP World Tour, Sergio Garcia has not paid the £100,000 fine that he was issued for playing in LIV Golf’s first two events last June.
In the statement, posted to the European Tour’s website on Wednesday afternoon, the Tour revealed that 16 of 17 players have paid the fine, but Garcia has yet to do so and has not given “any indication that he intends to.”
Garcia, Lee Westwood, Richard Bland and Ian Poulter, announced their formal resignations from the DP World Tour on Tuesday.
“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 read. It is unclear what action the DP World Tour is referring to in this case.
In early April, a decision was made by Sport Resolutions, a U.K. arbitration service, to uphold the DP World Tour’s ability to sanction their players for breaches of the Code of Behavior.
By playing in LIV Golf’s initial events last summer—without release requests granted to play in a conflicting tournament—Garcia and others breached their contracts with the DP World Tour.
The 17 players who received fines include: Garcia, Westwood, Bland, Poulter, Laurie Canter, Branden Grace, Justin Harding, Sam Horsfield, Martin Kaymer, Pablo Larrazabal, Graeme McDowell, Shaun Norris, Wade Ormsby, Adrian Otaegui, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Bernd Wiesberger.
Last June, the Telegraph reported that the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series would pay the £100,000 fines which were dealt to the above players.
Garcia and his team have not responded to a request for comment from Sports Illustrated. LIV has made it clear to their players that legal issues and fines would be handled in the manner that they preferred.
Westwood spoke to the Telegraph regarding his membership resignation and expressed his frustration and “sadness” with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s actions.
“People say I knew exactly what would happen, but nobody told us the extent of the punishments. And they continue to do that," he said. "The way I view it is that, as a European Tour member, I was allowed to be a member of the PGA Tour without any problem for all those years. Tell me, what is the difference? Just because LIV is funded by the Saudis—a country where my tour used to play and where we were encouraged to play?
“Now, in my opinion, the European Tour has jumped fully in bed with the PGA Tour and even though Keith [Pelley, the CEO of the DP World Tour] says he hates to hear it, it is now a feeder tour for the PGA Tour.”