The 2017 Dubai Desert Classic champion wants his European card back, and the deadline lands on the final day of November’s DP World Tour Championship.
Sergio García wants to come home. Sort of. After leaving LIV Golf, a Sergio García DP World Tour return is now firmly on the cards, and the timing could hardly be more Dubai if it tried.
Why García’s LIV contract ended
According to Reuters, LIV Golf agreed to tear up his contract after deciding it wouldn’t honour the terms anyway. Meanwhile, the league is working through Chapter 11 bankruptcy and trying to build a restructured version of itself. Golf’s great revolution, in other words, is sitting in a lay-by with the bonnet up.
For García, however, it’s an open road. He hasn’t ruled out the LIV replacement. In fact, ahead of this week’s Open de España, he told El País he’s weighing up several options. Sensible. Nobody buys the first car on the forecourt.
Sergio García’s DP World Tour membership plans
Still, his European intentions are clear. In August he told GolfMagic: “I’ve already informed them [DP World Tour HQ] that I will be taking my membership next season.” That’s not a man dithering. That’s a man with his indicator on.
The application deadline is 15 November, which is also the final day of the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. Applying won’t get him into this year’s finale, though. That’s still decided by the Race to Dubai.
García’s Dubai Desert Classic memories
For UAE fans, more García is good news. In 2017 he closed with a composed 69 at Emirates Golf Club to win the Dubai Desert Classic by three from Henrik Stenson. Composed. Sergio García. Not words you often see together, which is exactly what made it special. A few months later, he won the Masters.
The Ryder Cup factor
Then there’s the Ryder Cup, which for García is less a tournament and more a religion. He’s the all-time record points scorer with 28½, and he has told Luke Donald he wants to help again in 2027, as a player or in another role, if eligibility issues can be sorted.
Admittedly, his relationship with the European tour has had more twists than a mountain pass. He resigned in 2023, came back, then lost his card for not playing enough events. This time, though, he’s said it out loud.
