Garcia Offered To Clear Fines In Late Bid To Make Ryder Cup Team

Of all the European LIV Golf players Sergio Garcia is the one whose name cropped up more than most when debating who might be a good addition to the Ryder Cup side.

The Spaniard has a ready-made partner in Jon Rahm, he's scored more points than anyone who has ever played in the competition and, according to anyone who has ever been in the European team room, Garcia is one of the main heartbeats of the side.

Garcia resigned his membership from the DP World Tour in May of this year, alongside Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Richard Bland, and that seemed to signal the end of his chances to make the team.

According to The Telegraph the 43-year-old made a late case to give himself an opportunity to impress the captain and his good friend Luke Donald.

“They suddenly came to us and said that not only would he pay the £100,000, but also all of the outstanding fines if he was allowed to play,” a DP World Tour source told The Telegraph. "They also said they’d play in whatever events we wanted, apart from those that clashed with the remaining LIV tournaments.

"But it was explained that, despite the ongoing peace talks, as he had resigned his membership, he is not eligible to join until next year. It was all a bit bizarre as that was made clear all along. As it is, Sergio remains the only one of the LIV players not to have paid the original £100,000 fine. Lee Westwood has paid, Ian Poulter has paid… but Sergio still hasn’t.”

The outstanding fines are thought to be as much as £700,000, a figure that remains unpaid.

In June the PGA Tour and DP World Tour agreed to merge with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) in a deal that promised to end the split in the game and Garcia may well feature in future Ryder Cups, either as a player or captain.

As for this year he won't be in Rome, as a player or a supporter, and Rahm, for one, will miss him.

The week before the merger was announced Rahm said: "It's a little sad to me that politics have gotten in the way of such a beautiful event. Again, it's the best Europeans against the best Americans, period. And whatever is going on, who is playing LIV and who is not playing LIV to me shouldn't matter. It's whoever is best suited to represent the European side. I'm going to miss him. We had a great partnership at Whistling Straights."

Then last week he repeated that Europe were missing a trick by not involving Garcia as a vice-captain.

“I think it would be really stupid of anybody not to lean on Sergio García’s experience in the Ryder Cup. I mean, he is the best player Europe has ever had, won the most points and has shown it time and time again. If he were able to be a vice-captain, I absolutely would lean on him. Same as we are going to lean on (Jose Maria Olazabal) this coming Ryder Cup, right.”