Sergio Garcia should be at the Irish Open this week. Instead, Espanyol quit the game from the DP World Tour event held at K Club after Luke Donald did not choose him as the six captain draft pick for the 2025 Ryder Cup.
“I feel like I’m looking forward to being part of that team, so I feel like it’s mentally and it’s a little bit hard,” Garcia told Golfmagic. “I didn’t want to go there, nor did I want to be fully involved in the game and stuff, so I just decided to spend a little time with my family and do a few things, you know, something is something outside of golf and then restart a little and recharge the battery.”
In the Open Championship game, Garcia said he had a “chat” with Donald, which could return to his Ryder Cup in September at Bethpage Black. Leaders in European history believe his experience will benefit teams trying to win the Ryder Cup in a hostile environment. But in the end, Garcia’s game – his best result of the season was the Open T34 – without a guaranteed draft pick, Donald chose to choose with Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm and LudvigÅberg.
Rory McIlroy, who automatically qualifies for the team, was not surprised that he was not selected for the team.
“no I do not [understand]McIlroy said at the Irish Open on Wednesday when asked if he understood whether Garcia was withdrawing. “I mean, if Sergio was in the game, it would be great for the game, but obviously he wanted to keep his acuity and I wonder if he actually got the draft pick. He has the right to get in and out of whatever game he wants to play. As I said, Luke combined a very strong 12 players, 12 players I think are suitable, and I’m sure he was disappointed.
“But you know, at the same time, I’m sure he wants everything going well in Europe and hopes we win.”
McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre, Tyrrell Hatton and Rasmus Hojgaard will join Donald’s six captain draft picks on Long Island later this month.
The 2025 Masters champion fell into peace after completing his professional grand slam in April. McIlroy admits he climbed Mount Mount Mount and he struggled to find motivation. He reinvigorated him in front of his own host crowd in the open championship game, but later died in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
McIlroy has previously said that one of the last things he hopes to achieve in his career is winning the Ryder Cup. After Europe won in Rome in 2023, McIlroy promised to win at Bethpage Black.
His eyes were fixed on a new goal and he opened the Irishman, which would be an ideal season for McIlroy to finally achieve his dream.
“Again, for me, it’s one thing – obviously I’d love to win this week,” McIlroy said. “I’d love to win at Wentworth next week. But, for me, reevaluating my goals, one thing about the Ryder Cup is after everything happened this year, I’ll look back on 2025 – I’m not going to have a better year in the game if we can win everything in the year.
The Ryder Cup begins on September 26 at Bethpage Black.
