Is Sergio Garcia's Ryder Cup Career Over?

When Sergio Garcia paid his fines and rejoined the DP World Tour in November, it signalled a very real possibility of a return to the European Ryder Cup team after missing out on Rome 2023 following his controversial move to LIV Golf.

The record points scorer looked set to put himself in position to make the 12-man line-up for Bethpage after finishing 3rd in the LIV Golf League season standings and remaining as one of his continent's top players.

He was the seventh-highest European in Data Golf's rankings back then and looked poised to bring his experience to New York.

I wrote at the time that he would be a 'no-brainer' pick for Luke Donald, but things haven't quite transpired that way after winning in Hong Kong earlier this year. He suddenly began struggling with his game and registered just one top-10 in the final eight LIV events.

His real chances to impress Donald came in the Majors this year, where he could only manage a missed cut at The Masters and a T67 finish at the PGA Championship before missing out at US Open qualifying and then placing T34th at The Open.

Those results simply weren't enough to convince Donald to pick him, something he even admitted after his PGA Championship finish with an eye-opening assessment of where his game was.

"Obviously the way I’m playing, even if Luke offered me a pick right now, I would tell him no. So obviously I need to get better," he said at Quail Hollow in May.

Some four months later and his game did not improve enough to justify one of Donald's six picks, which means the 10-time Ryder Cupper's Team Europe career could well be over.

He will turn 46 in January and be 47 by the time Adare Manor rolls around in 2027. Only eight players have been older in Ryder Cup history, so it certainly looks like his career in the blue and gold of Europe is over.

Garcia said in 2024 that he hopes to play in "two or three more" Ryder Cups but that seems optimistic, even for the talent that he possesses.

"I feel like my game’s still good enough to play at least two or three Ryder Cups, so if I can keep that level going, hopefully everything gets sorted and we can get to that point," Garcia told Golf Monthly last year.

The golfing landscape will hopefully look a lot different in two years' time where he could well return to Team Europe as a vice-captain. Justin Rose is favorite to lead the home team in Ireland and the pair have historically had a good relationship.

That seems likely, as does Garcia being part of the side again on vice-captaincy duties at Hazeltine in 2029.

It would set up a Garcia captaincy at home in Spain, with the Ryder Cup returning to his home nation for the first time since 1997 when Camiral hosts in 2031.

It's something Jon Rahm was very supportive of once the news was confirmed about the 2031 venue.

Asked whether Garcia is "made for that job in 2031" prior to LIV Golf UK, Rahm said: "Yeah, I think so. I think there's something to say about possibly having, obviously, a local captain. I think it would do wonders for the crowd.

"If history shows us anything, and it's very hard to compare anybody to Seve, but I've only heard stories about what that Ryder Cup was like. I would say, if possible, I think that's a very obvious good choice to have Sergio be a part of that one."

As it stands, DP World Tour regulations would have to change for Garcia to assume the captaincy role, with anyone who has resigned their membership or failed to play their minimum quota of events in a season not being eligible for captaincy.

The landscape can certainly change, though, and there is a lot of time to pass until Adare Manor in 2027 and even Camiral in 2031.

“Obviously, being Spanish and the Ryder Cup being in Spain, kind of like what Seve did in ’97, it would be something very special, but it’s too many years ahead,” Garcia recently said.

So is Sergio Garcia's Ryder Cup career over? As a player, you would have to think the answer is yes. As a vice and captain, surely not.