Sergio shuns chance of £1m jackpot

RYDER CUP hero Sergio Garcia has turned down the chance to lift golf's richest prize - £1m - to play in an event where the winner's cheque is almost nine times smaller.

The total purse of the Mallorca Classic on October 14-17 is £690,000, far less than the first prize at the HSBC World Match Play Championship, but Garcia will be competing on the Balearic island that week rather than at Wentworth.

The Spaniard joins Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in turning down invitations to the lucrative tournament.

And with Americans Chris DiMarco, Justin Leonard, Davis Love and Chris Riley yet to confirm their availability, there is a chance that European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer will be in the 16-man field.

Eleven places are determined by a table based on performances in the four Majors this year, and Lee Westwood's fourth place in the Open has got him in.

Langer was joint fourth with Garcia in the Masters and is currently fourth reserve.

Defending champion Ernie Els is an automatic qualifier and the other four spots are based on European Tour performances.

Scotland's Scott Drummond, Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Ryder Cup partners Miguel Angel Jimenez and Thomas Levet are in line to make it at present, but Pádraig Harrington would knock Levet out by finishing eighth in this week's Heritage tournament at Woburn.

Meanwhile, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen have again turned down golf's World Cup in Seville on October 18-21.

South Africa will be represented instead by last year's winners Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman.

The 18 nations who qualify automatically are decided off the world rankings and while that certainly includes England (likely to be Paul Casey and Luke Donald) and Ireland (probably Harrington and Paul McGinley again) Scotland and Wales could find themselves having to qualify.

That is because Colin Montgomerie, Scotland's only player in the world's top 100, has been named for the conflicting UBS Cup - America v Rest of the World for the over-40s - in America.

Scott Drummond and Alastair Forsyth are the next-highest Scots in the rankings, 115th and 121st respectively. Leading Welshman in the rankings is Phillip Price at 79th, but that puts Wales only 21st prior to any withdrawals.

Players have until Friday week to decide whether they are available.