DP World Tour: "Sergio Garcia has not paid his £100,000 fine, nor has he given any indication he intends to. We will therefore take appropriate action if he continues not to respect the Sport Resolutions panel's decision"; Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell have paid
Thursday 4 May 2023 20:18, UK
The DP World Tour have revealed 16 of the 17 players to have defected to LIV Golf have now paid a £100,000 fine, but Sergio Garcia has yet to do so, and has "given no indication he intends to."
Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, Bernd Wiesberger, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Richard Bland, Laurie Canter, Branden Grace, Justin Harding, Sam Horsfield, Shaun Norris, Wade Ormsby, Adrian Otaegui, Pablo Larrazabal were each fined £100,000 in a sanction originally imposed in July 2022 and upheld last month by an independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions.
The punishment was for breaking rules by appearing in the LIV Golf series' opening event in Hemel Hempstead last June without permission, with the DP World Tour describing it as "serious breaches of the Tour's Conflicting Tournament Regulation."
Garcia, however, a 10-time Ryder Cup performer for Europe and holder of 16 European Tour titles, in addition to the 2017 Masters title, is the only player who has continued to refuse to pay the fine.
The news comes a day after Europe veterans Poulter, Westwood and Garcia resigned their DP World Tour memberships with immediate effect.
"The DP World Tour today confirmed that 16 out of 17 players have paid their fines which were imposed for serious breaches of the Tour's Conflicting Tournament Regulation last June," a statement read on Thursday.
"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.
"As confirmed yesterday, Garcia announced his resignation from the DP World Tour alongside Richard Bland, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
"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."
Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland
