View From The Fairway: Should We Welcome Ryder Cup Return For Sergio Garcia
By: Derek Clements | Mon 21 Oct 2024
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Weekly "View from the Fairway by Derek Clements":
Why Sergio Garcia should never play in the Ryder Cup again
WHEN I read that Sergio Garcia still harbours hopes of making Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team I nearly choked on my Corn Flakes. I thought it was a joke. But then I realised that the Spaniard is deadly serious.
What on earth is he on? Garcia has become one of the most divisive individuals in the sport.
Long before his defection to LIV Golf he was making headlines for the wrong reasons, throwing temper tantrums, abusing fans and caddies, taking his anger out on bunkers and fairways, throwing clubs and spitting in a hole.
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Then there was his “poor me” diatribe when he told the world’s golf media that he wasn’t good enough to win a major - before promptly going on to win The Masters in 2017.
And when he was preparing to quit the DP World Tour there was a withering attack during the 2022 BMW International in Munich..
Having received what he considered an unfair ruling and having to hack his ball out of the rough the microphones picked up Garcia saying: “I can’t wait to leave this tour.”
It was also widely reported that he told Rory McIlroy that the LIV players were, “finally getting paid what we deserve”.
An eloquent McIlroy replied: “Sergio. We’re golfers. We don’t deserve to be paid anything.” Amen to that!
There was a locker-room outburst in Germany when he reportedly flew off the handle and told his fellow players: “You’re all f****d and should have taken the Saudi money.”
Shortly afterwards, Robert MacIntyre, who witnessed the incident, tweeted: “Amazing how you can lose respect for somebody you have looked up to all your life."
There is a groundswell of opinion increasingly in favour of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton being included in the Ryder Cup team. McIlroy certainly wants this to happen and everything indicates that Donald would not stand in their way.
I have mixed feelings about this. Both men are only playing in DP World Tour events because they have appealed against the fines and suspensions imposed upon them when they joined LIV. But at least they have now competed in enough tournaments to fulfil their requirements to remain tour members. And have shown some proper form.
Garcia has made no such appeal but Donald has now revealed that the Spaniard is considering rejoining the DP World Tour - the same one he couldn’t wait to leave!
He resigned his membership in May 2023 after an arbitration panel found in favour of the DP World Tour and ratified its right to fine and suspend players who competed in LIV Golf events without permission.
A day later, the DP World Tour revealed that Garcia was the only one of 17 players initially sanctioned not to have paid his £100,000 fine, "nor has he given any indication that he intends to".
Donald said: "He resigned his membership a couple of years ago but we have had some chats. He's considering rejoining; he'd have to follow all the rules and regulations like everyone else and if he does that he will be eligible to partake in the Ryder Cup."
Do Europe need him? The answer to that is a resounding ’No’. Would the team be stronger with him in it? Most definitely not.
Ask yourself how he would be received by the likes of McIlroy and MacIntyre. It is fair to said that he would get the cold-shoulder treatment. The VERY cold-shoulder treatment. You can also only begin to guess as to the treatment that would be meted out to him by deeply partisan American golf fans.
And, quite frankly, is he still good enough to even be considered?
Remember that when it comes to majors he is now only eligible to play in The Masters.
After defecting to LIV, Garcia’s form fell off a cliff. Yes, he has found some decent form on the LIV Tour in 2024, where he finally managed to record a win. But you cannot possibly compare this with winning a “proper” 72-hole full-field tournament.
Yes, Garcia has recorded more Ryder Cup points than any other player - 28.5 - but he has become increasingly difficult to like, and Donald’s team will be better without him.
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