Sergio Garcia is the lone golfer of the 17 who defected from the DP World Tour to LIV Golf in 2022 to not pay his $125,000 fine by a court-required deadline, the DP World Tour announced Thursday.
Sports Resolutions, an independent panel based in the United Kingdom, ruled in an arbitration case last month that the DP World Tour can fine and suspend players who competed in conflicting tournaments — in this case, 17 who played in the inaugural LIV Golf event last June in London — without permission.
The DP World Tour called it a serious breach of its regulations for exemptions and code of behavior. After a group of players filed an appeal and were granted an injunction to play in the Genesis Scottish Open, the legal battle went before a U.K. arbitration panel in February. The DP World Tour won the case in April.
The DP World Tour had announced Wednesday that Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland had resigned their memberships in the tour, making them ineligible to play in the Ryder Cup.
On Thursday, the tour said 16 players have paid the fine: Poulter, Westwood, Bland, Laurie Canter, Branden Grace, Justin Harding, Sam Horsfield, Martin Kaymer, Pablo Larrazabal, Graeme McDowell, Shaun Norris, Wade Ormsby, Adrian Otaegui, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Bernd Wiesberger.
“Sergio Garcia has not paid his £100,000 fine, nor has he given any indication that he intends to. We will therefore take appropriate action if he continues not to respect the Sport Resolutions panel’s decision,” the DP World Tour said in a statement. “Details of further sanctions for players who breached the Conflicting Tournament Regulation by playing in subsequent conflicting events without a release, will be announced next week.”
–Field Level Media