Sergio Garcia to make DP World Tour return before LIV season

It has been well over two years since Sergio Garcia made his last DP World Tour start at the BMW PGA Championship.

When he controversially walked out of Wentworth after one round in September 2022, it looked like the Spaniard’s career on his longtime domain was over.

Several months after that, Garcia resigned his tour card after a sports arbitration panel ratified the Tour’s right to ban and fine him for competing in LIV Golf events without permission.

The DP World Tour then disclosed that Garcia was the only one of the 17 LIV players first sanctioned not to have paid his £100,000 initial fine – “nor has he given any indication he intends to.”

But now, with a Ryder Cup comeback his sole motive, Garcia has changed his mind.

As first revealed by bunkered.co.uk, the 44-year-old is now a DP World Tour member again having settled his outstanding fines totalling over £1million.

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After missing the Rome victory in 2023, Garcia still feels he has another Ryder Cup in him and is doing everything he can to make Luke Donald’s team at Bethpage next September.

He finished third in LIV’s order of merit this season behind only Jon Rahm and Joaquin Niemann and has spoken with his good friend Donald about his comeback plans.

The catch is that there are suspensions still to serve before he can compete, but Garcia is already well into his period of exile. It turns out that his return could come as soon as next month.

“Looking at it, I think it was like nine weeks so my first start will be… my possible first start will be Bahrain,” he said here at Riyadh Golf Club, during the PIF Saudi International.

The Bahrain Championship takes place on January 30-February 2, conveniently just an hour’s flight away from this venue in the Saudi capital where LIV’s 2025 season-opener takes place the following week.

Garcia, though knows his route back to the Ryder Cup is still far from easy. He only expects to play “two or three” DP World Tour events while negotiating suspensions he will still incur on LIV.

“Hopefully I play so well in the majors and in the European Tour events that I don’t need a pick,” he added. “That’s my goal.”

Among many subplots to a once improbable Garcia return is that the 2025 match will be staged in front of what is expected to be a merciless New York crowd on Long Island.

In the 2002 US Open at Bethpage, he earned the nickname ‘Waggle Boy’ as he gripped and regripped his club during his pre-shot routine. Seven years later at the same event, he faced similar taunts by unruly fans.

However, such inevitable hostility did not come into Garcia’s thoughts when reviving his hopes of a return.

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“Any Ryder Cup – it doesn’t matter where its played – it’s special and different,” he said. “I’ve played well there and its a course that I like so that would be a plus.”

And as for the Ryder Cup pay debate, which was sparked by the news that American players will now start getting paid $400,000 to take part, the competition’s all-time record points scorer was unequivocal.

“To me personally, I think that’s unfortunate,” Garcia said. “It takes away everything that the Ryder Cup stands for in a way.

“I don’t think it’s ever been a issue for the European players. The Americans seem to be making an issue for a while and now they’re getting paid to play. Hopefully they’re happy about that but I don’t think it helps the Ryder Cup itself.

“We’re happy to play the Ryder Cup, it’s as simple as that. Our goal is to play the Ryder Cup and play as well as possible so Europe can win it.”

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.