Apart from their professional careers, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia have had a great friendship, which they still cherish. The duo has also shared the greens at the 2021 Ryder Cup with a fantastic record of 3-0-0. But Garcia was snubbed in the 2023 iteration. The veteran golfer was hoping his form would convince Luke Donald this time around. But that wasn’t the case. Last time, Rahm was somewhat baffled at Donald’s decision to ignore his compatriot and idol. But this time, Rahm, now a LIV Golfer himself, agrees that Garcia didn’t earn it.

He was asked about it at the BMW PGA Championship. “My heart is always going to say yes, right. He’s a good friend of mine, he’s a Spanish player, and the moments we shared in Whistling and Paris, personally, I’m always going to want him around. He did play good early on in the year, very, very good. He was playing incredible golf, maybe in some parts of the world that you weren’t watching,” expressed Rahm.

While Garcia started the season on a strong note, he fizzled out when it mattered the most. The Spaniard missed the cut at the Masters, finished T67 at the PGA Championship, and T34 at The Open. Garcia also failed to qualify for the U.S. Open, a first since 1999. At the end of the LIV Golf season, he had just one win and three top-10 finishes.

So, naturally, despite being close friends, Rahm had to accept Donald’s judgment. Explaining that, he said, “It seemed like from April on, he didn’t keep that level. So I don’t think he helped himself. I understand that while we are not earning points or the rankings, we need to make a really strong case to be picked. Had he kept that level, he might have been on the team, but he didn’t play as good as he could have. Subjectively, I’m always going to root for him.”

Garcia and Rahm, apart from coming from the same nation, have shared an incredible Ryder Cup journey. The duo partnered twice, in 2018 and 2021. However, after that, the duo fizzled out with Garcia missing in 2023 and now again in 2025. He has played 10 Ryder Cups in the past and has a team record of 6-4, while his individual record is 25-12-7.  But at the end of the day, recency and form matter more than friendship.

Luke Donald, Team Europe captain and also a close friend of Garcia, said during the Amgen Irish Open, “Unfortunately, with Sergio, I felt like his form wasn’t quite good enough to make a team full of so many people playing well.” But despite this, Garcia still hoped to make it to the team.

Talking about that, he said, “It would mean the world to me to be there. Obviously, if I can help the team, that’s my main goal; I’ve always said it.” He talked about being on the team for 11 seasons, since 1999. However, the snub left him heartbroken, “I felt like I was so looking forward to being a part of the team, and so I felt like mentally, you know, mentally it was kind of tough.”

Team Europe, like the last time, is again a squad of young guns with some experienced players. Rahm might feel the absence of Garcia, but the team is sure that none of it will affect their performance. In fact, captain Donald is confident that his squad will, especially the ones who debuted in the last edition, will rise to the occasion once again.

Who took the place of Sergio Garcia for the second time at the Ryder Cup?

Sepp Straka will take the place of Sergio Garcia for the second time this year. His debut, however, was not one that some might consider Ryder Cup team worthy, as he had a record of 1-1. But this year, Straka has earned his spot. The Austrian International had 6 top-ten finishes this year, including two victories at the American Express and Truist Championship.

Speaking about the 32-year-old golfer, Donald said, “Sepp has been performing at a very high level; he’s had five top-10s in elevated events this year, so his record speaks for itself. He’s a quiet, reserved character, but he has so much fire in his belly, and I’m really excited to have him back in the team room.” 

In the end, Sergio Garcia’s absence is a reminder that past glory alone cannot secure a Ryder Cup spot. For Jon Rahm, it means accepting the disappointment of seeing a close friend left behind while turning his focus to Europe’s future.