In the spirit of the nineteen year anniversary of Eamon Dunphy’s legendary Rod Liddle rant: Sergio Garcia. He’s the guy who ran away and left Luke Donald with young ones.
And what a job they did in Rome last year. A young, vibrant crop of Europeans who breathed fresh life into what was a dishevelled and ageing side. They defied inexperience to catch an apparent golden generation USA team on the hop and win the Ryder Cup.
Then it was Europe who were viewed as the next hotshots in the biennial contest and proudly backed in some quarters to end a run of five successive victories for home teams in Bethpage Black next September, with Donald himself leading the charge.
In Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Matty Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm and Nicolai Hojgaard there was the nucleus of a team whose average age was ever so slightly younger than the USA last year and a crop who could be part of the next five Ryder Cups at least.
So why change?
Sergio Garcia has paid his DP World Tour fines and rejoined Europe’s top tier to give himself the best chance of making an eleventh Ryder Cup appearance next year and his first since 2021.
Garcia was part of a record breaking defeat for Pádraig Harrington’s European side in Whistling Straits three years ago as they were steamrolled by Steve Stricker’s young guns who seemed to say ‘take that old man’ with every bombed drive and every holed putt.
This was a European team past its sell by date. Merely mouldy bread in the bin and Garcia was part of the cohort who needed to be moved on.
Europe’s case was actually helped when Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey took the quick buck offered to them by LIV Golf and accelerated the period of transition that was desperately needed on the continent to avoid a changing of power in the Ryder Cup.
Three years ago, Team USA rocked up with an average age of 29 while Europe had an average age of 34 including four players in their 40s of which Sergio was one.
In a sport that is increasingly becoming a young man’s game. That simply won’t do.
Compare that to last year where Justin Rose was Europe’s only players aged in his 40s while Shane Lowry was the only other player aged over 35.
To Garcia’s credit he has had a very good year, regardless of what credibility you hold the LIV Golf League in.
The now 44-year-old finished third in the season long standings including notching a win and two runner-up finishes while he posted his best major championship finish in over seven years when he was T12 at the US Open.
According to Data Golf, Garcia is the eighth highest European and the seventh highest European in the Universal Golf Ranking, so maybe he is better than his Official World Golf Ranking of 415.
His compatriot Rahm has been a constant endorser of Garcia’s return even until the deadline for the 2023 teams last year.
The pair were the bright spark for Europe in Whistling Straits, winning all three of their matches together and they could have been excused for joining in the Americans celebrations.
There are merits for Sergio’s inclusion next year, none more so than being the contest’s record points scorer, but Europe have a good thing going and there is a risk that his presence could upset the apple cart.
Rory McIlroy racked up four points last year for Europe in what was his best Ryder Cup performance and there is no doubt that in the absence of the old brigade, he stepped up and took on more of a leadership role and shone.
McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland could be a leadership quartet for years to come while England’s Rose, who will also be 45 like Garcia when the next Ryder Cup is played, has shown that he has another contest in him.
Rose was a fantastic leader last year, particularly for MacIntyre and one would hope his GB&I Team Cup captaincy isn’t an inkling that he is on the wane.
Rose also came 2nd in the Open and 6th at the US PGA showing that he is nowhere near finished at the top level.
Those who won the ten PGA Tour cards (of whom are European) will surely be eyeing up a Ryder Cup appearance next year given the huge window of opportunity they have to impress.
Rasmus Hojgaard looks an almost certainty to be on the team in Bethpage alongside his brother Nicolai while Tom McKibbin aged just 21 has a chance to catch Donald’s eye in his maiden campaign on the PGA Tour.
Thanks to the strategic alliance, the PGA Tour might have inadvertently helped Europe’s cause for away Ryder Cups and a first victory on US soil since 2012.
European rookies are more likely to be well versed in playing an American style of golf as they will be basing the bulk of their seasons on the PGA Tour.
If Garcia qualifies for the European Ryder Cup team on merit then fine, he will be entirely deserving of his place and the statistics show that he could be an addition if age hasn’t caught up with him.
However, his record alone should not warrant a wildcard pick from captain Donald given that Europe have already enjoyed success without him and have a young team that deserves the chance to have a crack of winning away from home, should they make the team of course.
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