Sergio Garcia holding onto Ryder Cup dream, says Europe captain Luke Donald will need his strongest team to beat US
- Spaniard is eligible to play for Europe, but will need to be picked because his LIV membership stops him earning his way onto the team
- The 43-year-old begins his season at this week’s PIF Saudi International before moving onto the Asian Tour’s next stop in Oman
A fit-again Sergio Garcia has not given up on his chances of playing in this year’s Ryder Cup, but knows he will need to be one of captain Luke Donald’s picks if that is to happen.
The Spaniard has won more points, 28½, than anyone in the competition’s history, and said Donald would need the strongest team available if he wanted to beat the US in Rome in September.
Garcia was a member of the side that was hammered 19-9 at Whistling Straits Golf Course two years ago, a victory the Americans hailed as “just the beginning” for their youngest side ever.
“We can never go there with a weak team and expect to beat the Americans, even if we’re playing in Europe,” Garcia said. “So we’ll see, there’s still a lot of months to go until we get there.”
As a member of LIV Golf, whether he, Ian Poulter or Lee Westwood play is almost entirely down to Donald, unless there is a rapid change in the rules surrounding the awarding of world ranking points, something Garcia said “would be nice”.
“I can’t qualify on my own, I have to be a pick and it doesn’t matter how well I play,” Garcia said. “So, the only thing I can do is just to try to play the best I can, and see if Luke thinks I’m good enough to be a part of the team.
“If not, then we’ll be home, it’s as simple as that.”
Three months off over the winter has allowed Garcia to recover from an operation on his left knee, which he had after LIV’s season-ending team championship in Miami last October.
