With less than 60 days until the 2023 Ryder Cup in Marco Simone, Rome, Jon Rahm has again launched a claim that Sergio García should be on Luke Donald’s European Team in September.
Garcia has amassed a record points total (25) in his ten Ryder Cup appearances to date and he is one of five members of the 2021 European side to move to LIV Golf which has put his future in the biennial contest in doubt. As Europe prepare for an influx of new blood into the team, Rahm has leapt to the defence of his compatriot again saying he is the only LIV player he would pick.
“With all the respect for European players, the only one from LIV that I would choose for the Ryder Cup would be Sergio,” Rahm told the Golf Sin Etiquette podcast, as translated by the Twitter account @Handicap54. “Even if he was missing a leg.”
“He had started well and then, I think between the 12th and 13th, I had to say, “I’m going to call you Tyrrell, with the American accent – I know he doesn’t like it at all – until you make a f—ing birdie. And he didn’t talk to me anymore. Then, he almost birdied 17 and birdied 18. So, it was well.”
Rahm said he requires a partner “who understands how I go on the golf course, with a certain grit and some intensity. It has to be someone who is willing to have the same energy level as me, like I did with Sergio.”
“I have told Luke that we have Pablo Larrazabal, who has won two times on the DP World Tour, and if you need for someone to make a 2-meter putt to win on the 18th hole, Pablo has the balls to make that. You have someone who knows how to win when he’s in that position.”
Luke Donald isn’t alone when it comes to a selection dilemma around a big star with USA skipper Zach Johnson mulling over picking the drastically out of form Justin Thomas.
Thomas a two-time major champion including as recently as May 2022 has had a nightmarish year and was second to last at the Open Championship after the opening round where he carded an 82. He also registered an 81 at the US Open.
“If I am Zach Johnson, I would choose Justin Thomas, without a doubt,” Rahm said. “It is the same case as Sergio in 2018.”
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