Exclusive: Sergio Garcia reacts to having to forfeit DP World Tour membership for 2026

Sergio Garcia has revealed in an exclusive interview with GolfMagic that he still has ambitions to play on the European Ryder Cup team despite having to forfeit his membership of the DP World Tour.

Garcia, 45, has also disclosed specific details to GolfMagic as to why he withdrew from the Irish Open last month, citing it was a "no-win" situation for him after missing out on one of Luke Donald's six captain's picks for Bethpage. 

Garcia was speaking exclusively to GolfMagic Editor Andy Roberts with just three weeks to go until his fourth annual FORE Kids ATX charity event, which has now raised more than $7m.

The 2017 Masters champion returned to the DP World Tour earlier this season after having paid off his outstanding fines for joining LIV Golf. 

Europe’s all-time leading Ryder Cup points scorer resigned his DP World Tour membership in May 2023 after joining LIV Golf, but later paid around $1 million in fines to regain his membership — a final effort to make Donald’s 2025 European Ryder Cup team.

But Garcia was unsuccessful in his bid last month and he has now lost his DP World Tour membership after having only played in two regular tournaments on the circuit this season. 

Players must compete in at least four regular events on the DP World Tour schedule - not including the majors - in order to fulfil their membership for the following season.

Garcia, who won his second career LIV Golf title in Hong Kong in March en route to finishing ninth in the individual season standings, played in three of the four majors in 2025 with a best result of T34 at The Open.

But he was only able to play in the BMW International Open (MC) and last week's Open de Espana (T39) on the DP World Tour.

Garcia is unable to play in any more DP World Tour events this season and so he must now forfeit his membership for 2026. 

Players who don't have DP World Tour membership automatically become ineligible to make the European Ryder Cup team.

Garcia did have a window in his schedule to compete in last month's Irish Open but he chose to pull out of that tournament just days before when learning he had not been handed a captain's pick on Donald's European Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black.

The Spaniard considers it would have been a "no-win" situation for him had he pegged it up at The K Club after missing out on the team. 

"Yeah it's obviously a shame [to lose DP World Tour membership]," Garcia told GolfMagic.

"Unfortunately with everything that's going on, with the busy schedule I had in the summer, it was difficult to fit it in [four regular events].

"I think also not playing the Irish Open kind of made it a little bit tougher to get to my number.

"But I felt like not playing the Irish Open was the best decision, mentally first of all, because after not being picked, mentally I wasn't in the right frame of mind to play the tournament at the level that I wanted to and most likely I probably would have not played very well.

"I think it was a no-win for anyone because if I played badly, which was most likely the way my mind was at that time it was probably mostly what was going to happen, then it would have not been good and then everybody would have been saying 'oh it's the right thing he wasn't picked for the Ryder Cup...'

"But then even if I would have played well and let's say if I went on to win [Irish Open] it probably would have been a distraction for Luke and the team because people might have said 'oh he should have been picked, and this and that...'

"So I didn't think it was probably going to help the team going into the Ryder Cup knowing how difficult it was going to be in New York."

A DP World Tour spokesperson has confirmed to GolfMagic that Garcia will still be able to play in some DP World Tour events on sponsor invites next season, but he just won't have the benefits of membership and therefore will not appear on the Race to Dubai in 2026. 

Garcia will also become ineligible to earn Ryder Cup points once the 2027 qualification process starts, likely in August or September 2026.

As for future Ryder Cup captaincy or vice-captaincy under current DP World Tour rules, Garcia was already ineligible for that as a result of first dropping out of membership in 2023. 

The same scenario applies for all other players who have lost their membership, such as Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, under a regulation that was brought in at the start of 2017.

But of course rules can be amended in the future, especially given the ever-changing landscape of professional golf, and Garcia will be reliant on that in order to one day captain a Ryder Cup team.

Jon Rahm has already put forward his case for Garcia to be the captain of the European Ryder Cup team on home soil in 2031.

Many others would agree with such sentiments. 

Rahm himself could soon be ineligible for DP World Tour membership and Ryder Cup selection too as he awaits the result of his appeal hearing alongside Tyrrell Hatton. 

But right now even if the rules are to change in the future, Garcia is not contemplating captaincy in Spain or anywhere else because he still believes he can add to his record Ryder Cup points tally of 28.5 points. 

Garcia needs just one more appearance on the Ryder Cup team to match the all-time record of 11 set by Westwood and Sir Nick Faldo. 

"Yeah after my suspension comes through then I'll be able to rejoin the DP World Tour and we'll go back to normalcy," Garcia told GolfMagic. 

"Then obviously I want to still feel like I have enough game and my mind is still in the possibility of playing in the Ryder Cup as a player. That's what I want to do because I feel like I can still do it and help the team.

"But when the time comes where I feel game wise and mentally I'm not in that situation where I feel like I can make the team and help it, then I can start thinking about the captaincy.

"I think that once you stop thinking about playing in the Ryder Cup, just like Justin Rose said and it being the best thing [to play], once you start thinking that you can't play in the Ryder Cup anymore then obviously that's when you start thinking about being a captain. 

"That's the way it kind of works, once you start thinking about being a captain it's very difficult to make it as a player kind of like Keegan Bradley almost did I guess."

Garcia was speaking exclusively to GolfMagic three weeks before FORE Kids ATX, a two-day golf charity event founded by himself and his wife Angela Garcia.

Since the event's inception in 2022, FORE Kids ATX has raised over $7m for organizations that improve the lives, programs and healthcare services for children and families across Texas, where Garcia's family resides in Austin. 

For 2025, the Garcias have announced an exclusive partnership with another philanthropy-driven couple, television hosts Chris Harrison and Lauren Zima.

"Yeah we are really excited to do this again for a fourth year in a row," Garcia told GolfMagic.

"Chris and Lauren are now on board with us and they are really good friends of ours, so it's great to be able to do it together and keep helping the community which we love."

Garcia added: "It's been great to be able to raise so much money and to be able to help so many families and kids across Texas. It's been amazing to do something as meaningful as this and we can't wait for our event next month."

Through this inaugural collaboration, Harrison and Zima have enhanced FORE Kids’ charitable outreach by introducing a grief-focused organization near to their hearts, Experience Camps, to the list of beneficiaries.

The two-day gala and golf fundraiser, which will comprise a number of LIV Golf players including Garcia's very own Fireballs GC, will take place from 6-7 November.

The celebration supporting these charities kicks off with PAR-Tee on Thursday November 6 at Omni Barton Creek in Austin.

The theme for this year’s gala is A Night in Old Spain, a nod to the country where Garcia was born and raised.

The evening will feature a cocktail reception, dinner and a special program with words from the FORE Kids founders and partners, plus live music and dancing.

The FORE Kids Golf Tournament will then follow on Friday 7 November with a shotgun start at Fazio Canyons at Omni Barton Creek.

For more information and to show your support, please FORE Kids ATX website