As Sergio Garcia Deals With $1M Troubles, LIV Golfers Savor a Massive ‘Spanish’ Delight Amid Chicago Showdown

The Saudi-funded league is in Chicago for its penultimate event of the season, the LIV Golf Individual Championship. But, there is one other event that a few LIV golfers are looking forward to, and that is the 2024 Spanish Open. This year’s Spanish Open is going to be more exciting than ever, with not one but three LIV Spaniards representing their home country. Don’t you think this number should have been four since LIV has four Spanish golfers? Then, why isn’t that case?

Patrick Reed has received a tournament invitation to the Spanish Open, and he will be joining a field that includes Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Other players joining the team are David Puig as well as Eugenio Chacarra, who are confirmed to be participating under the ‘National Spots’ category as non-members, which is the only Spanish delight that the fans need. According to the latest post on X by Flushing Golf, Sergio Garcia is the only Spanish player not playing in the Spanish Open. Why is that so? Garcia is always so happy to be playing on the home turf. Well, it is due to the pending $1 million penalties he has yet to pay.

In May 2023, Garcia, along with other golfers resigned from DP World Tour. This happened because the golfer was sanctioned by the European Tour for joining LIV Golf. They initially challenged those fines in the United Kingdom, but an arbitration panel upheld the penalties in April 2023. However, earlier this year, the 2017 Masters winner expressed his desire to regain his DPWT membership and said that he never wanted to resign in the first place but then he had to keep paying fines for every LIV event he competed in.

“I always said, when I joined LIV, I wanted to keep still being a member of the European Tour and play my minimum, my four events, and keep my card. Obviously, they didn’t make it too easy to be able to do that,” said Garcia on Rick Shiels Golf Show. The anonymous tour insiders have revealed that Garcia must first pay £893,000, approximately $1.13 million imposed fine since joining LIV Golf to be eligible to play in the upcoming events, including the Spanish Open.

Garcia loves to play in Spain. He returned to Spain this year to play in LIV Golf Andalucia where he and his team, Fireballs GC won. He remarked the moment as one of his career highlights, as he said, “Without a doubt one of the highlights of my career.”

Jon Rahm is also not willing to pay the fines imposed by the DP World Tour and said, “I’m not a big fan of the fines.” The fines were imposed on the golfer for competing in LIV Golf events and were estimated to be worth $ 1 million. So how did Rahm make his way into the Spanish Open? Well, it’s a long story.

Jon Rahm appealed against the penalties imposed by the DP World Tour

Jon Rahm has appealed the fines he got from the DP World Tour for playing in LIV Golf events. Now, he can play in the Spanish Open and other important tournaments amidst that since he still holds his DPWT membership.

Flushing Golf on X recently revealed the same: “Jon Rahm has officially appealed against his sanctions on the DP World Tour. This means he is now eligible to compete in the Spanish Open and any other events needed to maintain membership of the tour and be eligible for Ryder Cup selection in 2025.”

According to Rahm, competing in the Spanish Open was important for him for two reasons, one being the obvious 2025 Ryder Cup selection next year and the other being him being a Spaniard. “I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it’s my duty to play Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in  Sotogrande,” said the golfer previously.

The 2024 Spanish Open is set to take place from September 26–29 at Campo Villa de Madrid. The excitement is double for Jon Rahm fans as the player is also in the line to win the season’s Individual Championship, and it will also be interesting to see him win on his home ground. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!