Sergio Garcia drops out of top 100 in official world golf rankings for first time since 1999

A long run in golf has come to an end, with Sergio Garcia dropping out of the top 100 in the world rankings.

Garcia climbed into the top 100 in 1999 following his win at the Irish Open, and had remained there for 23 years – spanning four decades.

But his ranking had been on the slide since his move to LIV Golf earlier in the year. When he teed it up at Centurion Club in June, he was ranked No. 55 in the world.

Joining LIV resulted in him being unable to play on the PGA Tour, due to the animosity between the two organisations, and his only opportunities for world ranking points were on the DP World Tour and the majors.

Missed cuts at the US PGA Championship. US Open and a tied-68th at the Open Championship did little to boost his ranking.

His only appearances on the DP World Tour since joining LIV resulted in tied-48th at the BMW International and a controversial withdrawal at the BMW Championship – and he has been shedding points through the autumn.

He started last week at No. 99, and the adjustment on Monday saw him drop down to No. 103.

Garcia, who ascended to a high of No. 2 in the world in 2008 will continue to tumble down the rankings, and his exemption to the majors for his Masters win in 2017 is now gone.

He can compete at the Masters as a past champion, but his hopes of playing in any of the other three majors in the near future are fading fast.

Garcia found himself in an elite group of three players, the others being Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, to have been in the world’s top 100 consecutively over a period spanning four decades.

The Spaniard said he had no regrets about joining LIV, and was well compensated for doing so, and played in all eligible events in 2022.

“I can only speak for myself, but I’ve definitely made the right decision,” Garcia said. “I feel like I’m where I want to be.

“Obviously, I knew some of the things that might happen if I joined here, but at the end of the day, as we’re seeing … you can see that some of the guys on the other side don’t really want me there.

“I don’t want to be a burden to anyone and even less in a Ryder Cup. I’d rather be away from that as much as it hurts and make sure that Europe has the best chance of winning than me being there and three or four guys that are going to be there are going to be upset or something.”

With his ranking dropping, Garcia’s focus will turn to the 2023 LIV Golf season – as well as a crack at the Masters in April.