Ian Poulter responds to Sergio Garcia’s ‘expensive’ Ryder Cup decision

Ian Poulter has warned Sergio Garcia that his attempt to return to the Ryder Cup will come at a heavy price. 

It was first revealed by bunkered.co.uk last week that Garcia has renewed his DP World Tour membership, meaning he is now eligible to make a comeback in next year’s match in New York.

Garcia, the Ryder Cup’s all-time record points scorer, has paid all the outstanding fines levied towards him for playing in LIV Golf events without permission and has now re-joined the domain he resigned from in May 2023.

However, a sports arbitration panel’s decision to ratify the sanctions imposed by the tour against LIV players means that Garcia will still be penalised during his bid to make Luke Donald’s team.

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Before returning to the DP World Tour, Garcia must serve suspensions and he will then be fined £100,000 for teeing it up in every LIV event that conflicts with a tournament on the Wentworth-based circuit.

Poulter has confirmed in a wide-ranging interview with Matt Vincenzi that LIV players have signed an indemnity policy that covers the fines, but he is not interested in following in Garcia’s footsteps.

“It’s going to be expensive,” Poulter said about the Spaniard’s return.

“For Sergio to be eligible to play in that Ryder Cup he would have had £1million worth of fines paid already. He’ll play 14 LIV events next year, finable of £100,000 a week.

“He or LIV would have spent £2.4million to give him that freedom to have a chance. That’s a lot of money spent to try and make a team.”

It would appear that Garcia’s U-turn is indeed entirely directed towards reviving his hopes of an 11th Ryder Cup appearance at Bethpage.

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However, his starts back in Europe will be sporadic at best as he manages his LIV schedule and awaits the green light to return.

Garcia, in fact, will likely need to rely on a pick from captain Luke Donald, his friend and former teammate in blue-and-gold, to qualify for the team in 2025.

“I don’t know if Luke has had any conversations with Sergio at length,” Poulter added. “Obviously, Sergio finished third last year on the order of merit in LIV which shows what Sergio is still capable of.

“As far as his chances of a) playing his way into contention, to make an automatic pick – and or how much will he be considered by Luke and what would it take for that to happen…

“I don’t know how many tournaments Sergio is earmarking to play in Europe. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.