Garcia to ‘hold off’ on quitting DP World Tour to keep alive Ryder Cup hopes

Sergio Garcia, who plays on the rebel LIV Golf circuit, says he is going to “hold off” on quitting the European-based DP World Tour as he assesses his Ryder Cup future.

The former Masters champion said at this month’s British Open he was likely to quit the tour, which would have ended his chances of playing in the team competition between the United States and Europe.

But the 42-year-old, Europe’s all-time record points-scorer at the event, held every two years, has decided to wait to see how things unfold.

“I want to at least see what’s happening when the Ryder Cup qualification starts,” he told ESPN. “See what kind of rules and eligibilities they have in there. 

“If I agree with what they (are), I’ll definitely keep playing whatever I can on the tour and try to qualify for that Ryder Cup team. And if not, then we’ll move on. But it is definitely something that is in my mind.”

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The next Ryder Cup starts on September 29, 2023 at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.

US players who have signed up to LIV Golf have been indefinitely suspended from the PGA Tour, meaning they are no longer eligible to play in the Ryder Cup.

The DP World Tour fined its members who played in last month’s inaugural LIV event in London and banned them from three events but no indefinite suspension has been imposed.

Henrik Stenson was last week stripped of the European Ryder Cup captaincy, hours before it was confirmed he was signing up for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.

Spain’s Garcia, who won the Masters in 2017, said he wanted to remain on the DP World Tour.

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“I told Keith Pelley (CEO of the tour), ‘I want to keep being a member of the DP World Tour. I want to play my minimum, still support the tour, still have my eligibilities to make Ryder Cup teams,'” Garcia said. 

“He said, ‘That’s great, but we got to do what’s best for us. We’ll see what that is.'”

The third event of the LIV series starts in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Friday.