Sergio Garcia is the golfer who raised a lot of dust with his decision to miss the last Irish Open. Although fans expected his return, the Spanish golfer still decided to miss the tournament.
Namely, Garcia expected that he could gain Luke Donald's trust and be part of the European team that will represent the continent at the Ryder Cup.
However, his form has not been ideal lately and it was known that he had little chance of a place in the team.
Immediately after his decision to miss the last European tournament, there were reactions from important figures in the golf scene.
Speaking to the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner shared his emotions about Sergio Garcia's decision.
Although he had a good start to the season, he experienced a serious crisis later on and had problems to get back into the right form.
Lavner went so far as to stress that Garcia is delusional, given that his recent performances really haven't been that great.
“One player I couldn’t help but chuckle with was Sergio Garcia, who, I think, if the Ryder Cup was in mid-April, sure, I think Sergio Garcia could have been a wildcard selection for that team. He was playing some pretty good golf on LIV, he won a tournament on the Asian Tour, he looked pretty good for a 45-year-old. However, he has not done much of anything over the past five months,” he said.
And this week, he withdrew from the Irish Open, telling reporters that he was so disappointed by the call that he received from Luke Donald, and that he was looking forward to being a part of that team. And once he was called and told that he was not going to be a part of Luke Donald’s team, he thought it was unfair to himself and everyone else for him to be so distracted inside the ropes that he was doing the right thing and withdrawing from the tournament and spending more time with his friends and his family.
This is like an all-time case of being delusional. Here’s a player that’s currently outside the top 100 in the Data Golf rankings, who is losing to the likes of Richard Bland week-in and week-out on LIV Golf, who somehow thought he was going to be a part of this Ryder Cup team.”- he said, as quoted by The Golfing Gazette.
Sergio Garcia with the Green Jacket© SportsCenter/ X / Fair Use
Aversion to Garcia and Hoggard's reaction
Sergio Garcia has not been a well-liked figure in golf circles since joining LIV Golf. Although he was an important link on the PGA Tour for years, the experienced golfer accepted the offer from the Saudi-backed tour and went on a different path.
Since then, it seems that most have negative emotions towards him, but at the same time try to look at the situation realistically, believing that the Spaniard simply did not deserve a place in the team.
Rex Hoggard also shared Lavner's opinion, finding the word "delusional" to be appropriate at this point.
Playing at LIV Golf this season, Hoggard points out that Garcia has been inconsistent, and if you don't have the right rhythm and you're not consistent week after week, it's hard to gain the trust of the team captain.
However, Sergio Garcia is not giving up on his intentions, believing that he will have a chance to compete in the Ryder Cup in the future.
