Garcia u-turns on plan to resign

LONDON • Sergio Garcia, one of the first high-profile names to join the controversial breakaway LIV Golf Invitational Series, has decided to hold off on resigning from the DP World Tour, one week after he said he would leave because he was "not feeling loved".

The PGA Tour has indefinitely suspended members who played without permission on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit, so he resigned from his PGA Tour membership last month ahead of LIV's debut event outside London.

After tying for 68th at the British Open last week, Garcia told Spanish media that he would "probably" leave the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour), which has punished but not indefinitely banned LIV golfers.

That came with the understanding that the 42-year-old Spaniard would become ineligible for selection for future Ryder Cups.

"I want to play where I feel loved, and right now in the European Tour I am not feeling loved," Garcia said at the time.

But according to ESPN on Monday, the former Masters champion said that meaningful conversations with members of the tour and recent comments from countryman Jon Rahm have led him to pump the brakes on a DP World Tour departure.

Rahm had said it "bothers" him that players like Garcia could be shut out of the Ryder Cup.

"When I finished the Open Championship (last) Sunday, I said I was most likely going to resign my membership from the (DP World) Tour," Garcia was quoted as saying by ESPN.

"That obviously meant not being eligible for the Ryder Cup because you have to be a member.

"But thanks to the things that Jon Rahm said, and I had a couple of good conversations with guys on the (DP World) Tour, I'm going to hold off on that. I want to at least see what's happening when the Ryder Cup qualification starts. 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."

That development does not guarantee that the DP World Tour will try to play nice with LIV Golf and its members.

"I told Keith Pelley (chief executive of the DP World 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 added.

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

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 281/2 points.

Henrik Stenson of Sweden joined LIV Golf last week and surrendered his European captaincy for the Ryder Cup in Rome next year, saying that he was "hugely disappointed" not to be able to play in that event.

REUTERS