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Sergio García needs to stop taking swipes for the good of his reputation | Ewan Murray

Life has apparently turned sour for the LIV rebel, with digs at Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and a Ryder Cup snubThere once was a swashbuckling young Spaniard named Sergio. When Señor García burst on to the golf scene more than two decades ago, there was excitement about a player who was carefree on the course and had a twinkle in his eye off it. The expectation was that García would win a lot more than the solitary major that has come his way – the 2017 Masters – but a combined 27 victories between the DP World and PGA Tours still make the 43-year-old one of the finest players of his generation.We are, however, entitled to ask why life apparently...

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LIV has paid big money for golfers past their best. Will the Saudis care? | Ewan Murray

Henrik Stenson has not won since 2017 and like García, Poulter, Mickelson and Westwood is being paid on name not formSportswashing is not supposed to make commercial sense. Therein lies the reason that no normally functioning business saw fit to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at a disruption plan for golf. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) can attempt to rebrand a kingdom for which the murder of a journalist and human rights atrocities are typical reference points with the benefit of an apparently bottomless pit of cash. If the PGA and DP World Tours find themselves embroiled in a commercial long game with the Saudi-backed LIV Series, they know they will be outmuscled.Events of recent days did, however,...

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Evergreen Sergio García offers Harrington and Europe rare cheer | Andy Bull

The Spanish wildcard, who for years feuded with the captain, broke Nick Faldo’s win record with a comeback for the agesRight about the time it was all as good as over, when the US fans at Whistling Straits were jeering the loudest, the wiseacres on social media were explaining where Europe had got it all wrong, just when your thumb was hovering over the TV remote, that was when it happened.Europe, already 6-2 down, were trailing in two of the Saturday morning foursome matches and all-square in the third. Their alpha pair, Sergio García and Jon Rahm, who had won the team’s only full point on the first day, had lost four of their first five holes on the second....

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The Anti-Sports Personality of the Year awards 2019 | Simon Burnton

While the more deserving await the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award verdict on Sunday night, here is our list of sporting anti-heroes from 2019The Military World Games may have received little publicity in Britain, which is not one of the 140 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe who participate but it was one of the year’s greatest festivals of sport, attracting nearly 10,000 participants to the Chinese city of Wuhan in October. Related: Ben Stokes on pole to take BBC sports personality of the year award Continue reading...

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Gareth Southgate the statesman can inspire golfers and politicians alike | Kevin Mitchell

The England manager leads and supports his players with few words and integrity – virtues that are lacking elsewhere, from the golf course to WestminsterEveryone loves Matt “Kooch” Kuchar, right? The American golfer has cherry‑cheeked and boy-smiled his way around the great courses of the world for years, the affectionate hooting of his fans a harmless counterpoint to the sometimes po-faced mien of the sport.Except “Kooch” is no innocent schoolboy. He is 40 years old and as tough a customer as there is in golf. At the World Match Play in Texas on Saturday, he got properly hard. Related: Gareth Southgate shows Montenegro how to react but what will Uefa do? | Daniel Taylor Related: Raheem Sterling is a better...

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