Spain’s Sergio Garcia said he is quitting the European tour because he doesn’t feel loved anymore.
The 2017 Masters champion, one of the first high-profile players to jump to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, will be ineligible for future Ryder Cup competitions if he quits the DP World Tour.
“I am quite clear about what I am going to do with the European circuit. Probably leave it,” Garcia told Spanish media after tying for 68th at The Open Championship on Sunday. “I want to play where I feel loved, and right now in the European Tour I am not feeling loved.
“I am very happy with what I have achieved, and I am going to try to enjoy it. I will play less and will spend more time at home. If I cannot play any more major, that’s the way it is, but it is not something that bothers me a lot. I am feeling sad because of the Ryder Cup, but right now in the way I am playing I won’t be selected.”
Garcia, 42, is a 16-time winner on the European circuit. He won 11 titles on the PGA Tour before resigning his PGA membership to join the LIV series.
Garcia tied for 48th at the BMW International Open last month in Munich, where former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn criticized the LIV circuit for “sportswashing” and minimizing the Saudi government’s history of human rights abuses.
“When (Bjorn) told us: ‘We don’t love any of you and all players say so.’ … I already have an age and had enough suffering to be enduring nonsense like that,” Garcia said. “That’s not pretty. I have given more than half my life to the European Tour and I wanted to continue playing it, but I am not going to be where they don’t want me.
“It is very sad to receive such treatment for a personal and professional decision. … I feel sorry for the Ryder Cup, my resignation is not official, but I’m going to make it effective. I have what I have and I am very happy with it, and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I will play less; I will be more at home.”
Since 1999, Garcia has been a part of all but one European Ryder Cup team (2010). He has been part of six winning teams while compiling a career record of 25-13-7. He is the all-time Ryder Cup scoring leader with 28 1/2 points.
–Field Level Media