You Have To Respect Sergio Garcia For Holding Out And Not Paying His $125k Fine To The DP World Tour

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Sergio Garcia has earned a reputation among some golf fans over the years for being arrogant and immature and added even more ammunition for his critics with his latest move involving the DP World Tour.

Garcia and 16 other golfers who made the jump to LIV Golf were fined £100,000 (about $125,000) by the DP World Tour and the Spaniard is the lone player yet to pay the fine.

The fine was originally sanctioned in July 2022 and upheld in April by a 'sports resolution' panel, whatever that is.

Since we're coming up on the one-year anniversary of the original fine with Garcia yet to pay up, the DP World Tour is going public with its complaints.

“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," the statement read after naming the other 16 players who have paid the fine.

DP World Tour Threatens Sergio Garcia Over Unpaid $125k Fine

Sergio Garcia not paying his fine from the DP World Tour for making the move to LIV Golf makes all the sense in the world. (Photo by Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)

Why Would Sergio Garcia Rush To Pay The Fine?

While the vast majority of golf fans and media members will pile on Garcia for not paying the fine, if you take a step back and actually look at the situation, the Spaniard is doing what most other people with a spine would do.

Full disclosure: I'm not a lawyer, nor do I know the ins and outs of DP World Tour contracts and regulations, but...

Garcia is no longer associated with the DP World Tour at all. Any former employee, especially a clouded version of an independent contractor like a professional golfer, wouldn't exactly be rushing to go pay their former employee a fine simply because they took a job elsewhere.

Garcia isn't being petty, he's simply sticking to what he believes is right, which doesn't include paying his former tour $125,000 because some panel said he should.

READ: SERGIO GARCIA RIPS ‘IMMATURE’ RORY MCILROY, MAKES IT CLEAR THAT THEIR FRIENDSHIP IS NO MORE

The most interesting wrinkle in all of this is that Garcia doesn't have to personally pay the fine. According to Sports Illustrated's Bob Harig, LIV Golf has offered to "handle any legal issues/fines" of its players who joined the Saudi-backed circuit.

Not only does Garcia not think the fine should come out of his own deep pockets, he doesn't think the fine should come from the Saudis running LIV Golf who happen to have the deepest pockets in the world.

In the end, lawyers will get involved here and Garcia will likely be forking over $125,00 sooner rather than later, but him holding out is a respectable move that anyone else with common sense would deploy.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.