Nearly a week before BC Partners pulled the plug on LIV Golf, 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia had already announced his departure from the league. The 46-year-old is now gearing up for a DP World Tour return in 2027. But his eyes are firmly set on a bigger prize, just ten months away: earning a place on the European side at the Ryder Cup.
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“I think everyone knows how much I love the Ryder Cup, and I just hope that I can be involved,” Garcia told Golf Magic. “… I had a little chat with Luke in Ireland, mentioning that I was trying as hard as I could to make the team, and he said that he didn’t expect anything else, so that was nice.”
Garcia has made it clear that even if he falls short of earning a playing spot, he would be happy to contribute to the European team in any capacity. Besides receiving support from captain Luke Donald, the Spaniard revealed he has also spoken to Justin Rose about a possible involvement. However, Garcia has yet to have a chance to discuss the matter with Rory McIlroy.
“I haven’t really talked to Rory [McIlroy] about it much, but I have talked to Justin Rose and a couple of others, and obviously they are on the same page,” Sergio Garcia added. “If there is any way that I can help, then they are happy for me to be there, and that’s what I’m going to try to do. So we’ll see what the year brings us.”
Despite receiving support, Garcia knows that securing a place on the Ryder Cup team won’t be easy, particularly with several former LIV Golf players returning to the European circuit. Nevertheless, he remains confident in his chances. As he put it, “I wouldn’t be saying or trying to make it into the team” if he didn’t believe he could get there.
Garcia is determined to give himself the best shot, promising to “go out there and work hard, give it everything that I have.” If he is successful, the Spaniard would equal Sir Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood’s record of 11 Ryder Cup appearances. Interestingly, Garcia admitted he hadn’t realized that he would tie the record until the outlet brought it to his attention.
Regardless of whether he makes it in 2027, he already holds another remarkable record: he remains the Ryder Cup’s all-time leading points scorer. Across his 10 appearances, Sergio Garcia has accumulated 28.5 points, putting him 3.5 clear of second-placed Nick Faldo on the all-time list. That record is hardly surprising given his impressive history in the competition.
The European side has emerged victorious in six of the 10 editions in which the Spaniard featured. Garcia made his Ryder Cup debut in 1999 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, and his last appearance came in 2021 at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wisconsin. And with his determination to compete next year, Garcia might be able to end his absence from the competition.
In the meantime, however, the Spaniard is preparing for an off-season.
“There are many parts of the game that you can always improve, but I feel like my putting since I went to the broomstick has gotten better and it feels better, which is great, so I am going to keep working on that,” Sergio Garcia said. “I am also going to keep working on my short game, chipping, wedge game. It’s an area where I can improve quite a bit.
“Obviously, my driving and my long game [are] usually in good shape, but you can always keep working hard on it and keep improving it. So yeah, will be working hard on all those areas, but especially my wedge game, chipping, and my putting the most.”
That said, while Garcia has received support for a Ryder Cup return, not everyone on the DP World Tour is happy about LIV players being welcomed back as if nothing happened. So it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Sergio Garcia, and how other players react if he does make the team.