Sergio Garcia Gets Unpleasant Wake-Up Call from Team Europe Captain Shortly After Speaking Out Against Snub

If Sergio Garcia thought he would be getting sympathy for his move at the Amgen Irish Open, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Once looking forward to being a part of the European Ryder Cup team, Garcia pulled out last minute from The K Club event, when he found out that he hadn’t been selected as one of Luke Donald‘s picks. Donald, on the other hand, had been very clear from the start, prompting Garcia to up his game if he wanted a way in. Now, after Garcia’s sudden emotional decision, Donald was blunt with his words.

Luke Donald, ahead of his round at the Irish Open, was asked about his reaction when he found out about Garcia’s withdrawal. “Well, I think Sergio is disappointed, like all the others that felt like they might have had a chance to make the team. Again, I don’t tell people what to do with their schedules unless it’s really close.”

“He fully understood that the Irish was after the qualification, after the team was picked. Unfortunately, with Sergio I felt like his form wasn’t quite good enough to make a team that was full of so many people playing well,” Donald said in the recent press conference at the Irish Open, emphasizing the rationale behind his choice. Garcia, apart from his underwhelming performance in the majors, was also out of form in LIV events, having secured just one top-10 finish from the eight starts. Although he did win this year’s LIV Golf Hong Kong event.

Donald is right in guessing Garcia’s disappointment. Announcing his decision to pull out, Garcia had admitted that he was mentally affected after knowing he hadn’t made the Ryder Cup team. “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.” On his part, the Spaniard had done everything he could to get a ticket at the biennial event. Once joining LIV, his chances were slim. LIV players were slapped with heavy sanctions, reaching as high as 1 million euros, and multiple suspensions and punishments on top of that. To avoid all this, Garcia had given up his DP World Tour membership.

But just for the sake of carrying the blue and gold, the Spaniard rejoined the Tour and paid all his outstanding penalties. He was hopeful to make his way to the team, which was evident from his being in constant contact with Donald. “Yeah, we chatted on the phone a couple of weeks ago. He’s certainly very interested in doing that. 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,” Luke Donald had said at the time.

Even then, Garcia’s performance was not satisfactory. The only avenues available for him to prove his calibre for the Ryder Cup were to perform decently at least in the Majors. His LIV points would not have been counted towards the Ryder Cup ranking. But, unfortunately, the 45-year-old veteran failed to do that. He finished T34 at the Open, T67 at the PGA Championship, missed the cut at the Masters, and failed to qualify overall in the US Open. These were reasons enough for Donald, who even in August had told Garcia that he “needs to show more improvement.” In fact, even Garcia at that time said that with his current form, he shouldn’t be Donald’s choice.

Donald’s six picks, which he announced on 1st September, were Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, and Matt Fitzpatrick. Compared to these players and the ones who had qualified automatically for the team, Garcia would have been the most experienced player. He has appeared in 10 Ryder Cups in the past, helping Europe to win 6 of them. His Ryder Cup points (28.5) are the most in the event’s history, bypassing that of Nick Faldo‘s. Still, he found himself being snubbed and saw fellow players like McIlroy, who backed Donald’s decision, and Rahm, who, until very recently, wanted Garcia to take the event’s captaincy.

But if it brings him any relief, Garcia isn’t the only player reeling with Ryder Cup’s emotions.

For many, the Ryder Cup dream is left hanging

Matt Wallace, when asked about not being selected by the European Captain, couldn’t muster a sentence. Instead, he broke down. Finally, when he was able to speak, his response was fraught with emotions. “I’ll never give up on the Ryder Cup, you know. I just won’t.” Wallace had done enough to make a case — the highest-ranked player in the European Ryder Cup team standings to be left off the team — but when Luke Donald revealed his captain’s picks, his name wasn’t there. Donald himself admitted the call was “extremely difficult,” pointing out that Wallace’s emotion showed just how deeply the Ryder Cup cuts into the identity of European players.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Captain Keegan Bradley dealt with his own version of heartbreak. After being speculated about choosing himself as one of his picks, Bradley made the sacrifice and decided to support the team from backstage. As the US Captain, he accepted that leading the team meant giving up the chance to play, even though part of him still wanted to compete at Bethpage. “It hurts,” he said, before reminding himself that captaining is the “ultimate job in golf.” Although he’s still part of the team, he will not be able to tee it up at Bethpage Black. “I mean, I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups,” Bradley had told BBC Sport.

Whose snub hurt you the most? Let us know in the comments below.