Sergio Garcia surprisingly calm as Ryder Cup hopes hang by a thread

Sergio Garcia is the Ryder Cup's record points scorer.

He’s made no secret of his desire to once again pull on the yellow and blue. But, as TG’s Alex Perry found out, Sergio Garcia is accepting of his Ryder Cup fate either way…

It’s become the latest will-he-won’t-he to embroil golf as Sergio Garcia begins his latest bid to make the European Ryder Cup team.

When the biennial clash headed to Rome two years ago, it marked the first time since 1997 that the Americans hadn’t had to worry about swashbuckling Spaniard.

A career in yellow and blue that has spanned four separate decades has seen Garcia accumulate 28 and a half points for the European cause. No player from either side of the Atlantic has put more numbers on the board in the competition’s near 100-year history.

But a return to form and an easing of the tensions between the DP World Tour and those who defected to LIV Golf have put Garcia firmly back in the frame for a return to Luke Donald’s team as they head to Bethpage in September in a bid to retain the trophy.

In so many ways, Garcia is the perfect candidate to tackle the boisterous New York crowds that will no doubt show up in their discordant numbers.

Still, the 45-year-old maintains an air of calm about the situation. It is somewhat surprising. Almost like he as at peace with the fact that, should it turn out to be the case, his Ryder Cup career is over.

“It’s very important to me, but it’s not life and death,” he told TG on a media call as he prepares for next week’s LIV Golf event in Miami.

“Obviously, I want to make that team as badly as possible. But if, for a reason, I don’t make it, it’s still fine. It’s not like my life is going to end.

“I’ll still be watching, I’ll still be supporting, but my goal is to be there, helping the team the best way I know how – which is with my game what I can bring in the team room.

“We’ll see what happens. There is still many months to go until that decision is made. I’ll just keep working hard and keep playing the best golf that I can.”

It’s certainly going to be an uphill battle. As it stands he is in the Masters field, thanks to his 2017 triumph at Augusta National, and the PGA Championship, courtesy of a special invite from the PGA of America.

A missed three-putt on the 72nd hole of last week’s Asian Tour event in Macau saw him squander a chance to book a first visit to The Open for three years. But while the thought of playing in his “favorite major” again excites him, additional shot at Ryder Cup qualification points matter just as much.   

“If I keep doing playing like I’m playing, I’ll have a shot at making it by myself,” Garcia, who has been on the LIV Golf winners’ podium four times already this season – once for an individual title and three times with his Fireballs teammates.

“I have to play really well in in the in the events that that obviously give Ryder Cup points, but if I cannot make it that way there’s always a possibility of being picked.

“The only thing I can do is to keep showing Luke what I’m made of and the things I can do.”

And while Garcia doesn’t expect any cronyism from Donald, he’s not afraid to say that their friendship can work in his favor. After Garcia’s recent win in Hong Kong – his second on the LIV circuit – he received a text.

“He said congrats and told me it was great to see another European win out there,” Garcia explained.

“We’ve been talking for a while now. We enjoy talking to each other and seeing what’s going on.  

“But we’re not only friends, but we’ve been in Ryder Cups together and in several teams together.

“So he knows what I can bring to the team. It will come down to him and his team deciding if I can bring something extra to the team that might help.

“I think I’m on his radar, and that’s something.”