Legal
Sergio Garcia called out for not paying fine, DP World Tour threatens 'appropriate action'
Rob Carr
The DP World Tour announced that 16 of the 17 players who defected to LIV Golf have paid their fines in the court-appointed window following the tour's victory in its arbitration case with LIV Golf … and the tour wasn’t shy about letting the public know who failed to meet the deadline.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon the Old World circuit said that Sergio Garcia had not paid the £100,000 charge levied against him for breaking the DP World Tour’s rules and regulations when jumping to the Saudi-backed LIV league, with the DP World Tour threatening further action.
“Sergio Garcia has not paid his £100,000 fine, nor has he given any indication that he intends to,” read a statement. “We will therefore take appropriate action if he continues not to respect the Sport Resolutions panel’s decision.”
On Wednesday, the DP World Tour announced that Garcia, along with Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland, had resigned their DP World Tour memberships. The move makes the four ineligible to compete in the Ryder Cup.
Following the DP World Tour’s fine and suspension of 17 members who fled to the fledgling LIV league last June for the inaugural LIV Golf event in London, a group of players led by Poulter, Adrián Otaegui and Justin Harding filed an appeal against the DP World Tour. The LIV members were granted an injunction to enter the Genesis Scottish Open, pending a full hearing before a U.K. arbitration panel in February, in which LIV players like Westwood and Patrick Reed testified. However, the DP World Tour ultimately won the legal battle in April, with the panel upholding the former European Tour’s conflicting tournament release regulation and its ability to sanction members who breached it.
The 16 players who did pay the fine were Bland, Westwood, Reed, Harding, Otaegui, Poulter, Laurie Canter, Branden Grace, Sam Horsfield, Martin Kaymer, Pablo Larrazabal, Graeme McDowell, Shaun Norris, Wade Ormsby, Charl Schwartzel and Bernd Wiesberger. Sources tell Golf Digest that the DP World Tour board will meet next Tuesday to vote on how to proceed with sanctions towards DP World Tour members who continue to play in LIV Golf events, and whether LIV golfers will be allowed the ability to also play on the DP World Tour.
Garcia, 43, has 16 career wins on the DP World Tour, and is the all-time leading scorer for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup.