"I like to play where they want me and on the European Tour (now known as the DP World Tour) right now I don't feel loved,” Garcia told leading Spanish golf website ten-golf.com at the end of his week at St Andrews.

The Ryder Cup star - he’d become ineligible for the biennial match - has made the decision after joining fellow European players Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Martin Kaymer in joining Greg Norman’s breakaway LIV Golf circuit.

Garcia, a former Masters champion, revealed that he’d made the decision after the LIV Golf defectors were criticised by Thomas Bjorn, his captain in a winning Ryder Cup in France in 2018.

Spain's Sergio Garcia tees off the 18th during day four of The Open at the Old Course, St Andrews. Picture date: Sunday July 17, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story GOLF Open. Photo credit should read: David Davies/PA Wire.

“I have given more than half my life to the European Tour and I wanted to continue playing it, but I am not going to be where they don't want me.

“It is very sad to receive such treatment for a personal and professional decision. If they treat you like that, it's not worth continuing.

“It is the first time that he made a decision thinking only of me and my family without leaving the European Tour because I didn't want to leave it.

“We will enjoy what we have and we will play where they want us. I haven't officially communicated it yet, but I'm going to do it.”

Sergio Garcia explains why he is quitting DP World Tour - 'right now I don't feel loved'