After missing out on this year’s Ryder Cup team, Sergio Garcia is taking a break.
Garcia withdrew from the Irish Open on Monday shortly after receiving the call that he would not be part of the European Team at the Ryder Cup later this month. Garcia is the all-time points leader for the European team in the event, and he’s been part of every tournament dating back to 1999. But captain Luke Donald opted not to select Garcia when he made his captain’s picks to round out the 12-man team on Monday.
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The decision not to play in this week’s DP World Tour event came because Garcia said he wouldn’t be “fully engaged.”
“I felt like I was so looking forward to being a part of that team, and so I felt like mentally, you know, mentally it was kind of tough,” Garcia told GolfMagic.
Garcia has since flown to New York to watch the US Open tennis tournament. He’s actually going to play golf with fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday ahead of Alcaraz’s semifinal match in the Grand Slam later this week.
Garcia has won 11 times on the PGA Tour in his career, most notably at the Masters in 2017. He’s since moved over to LIV Golf, however, and has struggled all season. He missed the cut at the Masters in April, and finished T34 at the British Open in July. Garcia is currently at No. 399 in the Official World Golf Rankings, as LIV Golf events still do not accumulate points on the world stage. He won a LIV Golf tournament in Hong Kong in March, but he’s only made one top-10 finish in his last eight starts on the circuit.
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Garcia was one of the bigger names set to play in the Irish Open this week. Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Patrick Reed and Tyrrell Hatton are also in the field.
Donald made his six captain’s picks on Monday. He brought on Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick. McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Højgaard and Hatton had already qualified. United States captain Keegan Bradley made his captain’s picks last week.
“The call with Luke was fine but not the call I wanted, obviously, but the conversation was fine,” Garcia said. “Now, the only thing I can do is support the team from home. It’s as simple as that. I’ll be watching and cheering on the European team.”
The Ryder Cup will kick off on Sept. 26 from Bethpage Black in New York.
