by 
Editor’s Note: “In Case You Missed It” is a GGP+ Feature that highlights a story from Global Golf Post‘s Monday magazine.
WWhether you’re watching reruns of Friends or The Perfect Couple on Netflix, the stories are fun, but it’s the characters that make them special.
Characters make us care.
The same goes for the Ryder Cup, which is why the possibility of Sergio García returning to the European team next fall at Bethpage Black’s Thunderdome adds a dash of hot sauce to an already spicy recipe.
The Ryder Cup is golf’s “Game of Thrones,” pitting one clan against one clan every two years, with subplots and characters that give structure to the competition, where every stroke and every hole in the baseball Playoffs appears magnified in the same way feels critical.
For this reason, the Ryder Cup holds a special place in the game, separated by the emotions, the camaraderie, the flags, the songs, the match-play dynamics and ultimately the participants.
This is where García comes into play.
García loves the Ryder Cup, just like his Spanish compatriot Seve Ballesteros. When he decided to take the millions from LIV Golf, he banned himself from the event because he also gave up his membership in the DP World Tour, a requirement for participation.
García has won more points than any other player in Ryder Cup history, with 28.5, and has been part of six victorious European teams. But García wasn’t part of the European victory in Rome last fall, and while captain Luke Donald’s team ultimately didn’t need him, García obviously still needs the Ryder Cup.
Donald revealed last week that García could potentially be back in the Ryder Cup next year if he can make peace with the DP World Tour. It’s still complicated because it’s about money and a certain amount of pride on both sides, but the door is more open than closed at the moment.
García would have to rejoin the DP World Tour, and the complicating factor appears to be whether he would be willing to pay the fines imposed on him (reportedly in the region of $2 million) to become a tour member again. Spain’s Jon Rahm and England’s Tyrrell Hatton have appealed similar fines, despite having played the minimum number of tournaments to be eligible to play at Bethpage if the fines are resolved.
“We spoke on the phone a few weeks ago,” Donald said of García. “He’s certainly keen to do that. He understands everything that is involved and here too the decision is his to decide whether he is ready for it.
“But certainly we had that discussion, yes.”
“But if they don’t make things a bit easier I’ll give up some things, but they’ll have to give up a few things too and if we find that middle group then I’ll see a handful of European Tour events played. If not, it will be a little more difficult, but hopefully that won’t be the case.” – Sergio García
In a recent interview with GolfMagic, García made it sound like he expected to rejoin the DP World Tour soon.
“To be completely honest, if things get a little better with the European [DP] Tour and the things they ask and the things we ask come close, the decision is 99 percent,” García said.
“But if they don’t make things a little bit easier I’ll give up some things, but they’ll have to give up a few things too and if we can find that middle group then I’ll see a handful of European Tour events played. If not, it will be a little more difficult, but hopefully that won’t be the case.”
The simple answer is that García must do what the Tour rules require. He is not a victim in this because he made his decision knowing the possible consequences, but LIV golfers have consistently tried to portray themselves as victims when they were banned from their previous tours.
García won his first LIV tournament this year and finished third in the points race. Although he will be 45 at the Games in September, his presence could be significant for Donald’s team.
García’s emotions, which have worked both for him and against him throughout his career, burn like a campfire in the Ryder Cup. Years ago, an American captain observed García working in the stands during a game and remarked to an acquaintance, “There’s not enough mustard in the world for that hot dog.”
Things are going to be loud and rowdy in the galleries at Bethpage Black, and García could be at the center of the storm. When the US Open was played there in 2002, García was a focal point for the crowd, who mocked his renewed grip tick that preceded each swing and counted each time he reset his grip before beginning the swing , sometimes in Spanish.
At one point, in a week in which he also publicly complained that the USGA was playing favorites, García caused a stir because he had to play in worse weather conditions than eventual winner Woods on a rainy Friday.
García has played another US Open and a PGA Championship in Bethpage since his fourth-place finish at the 2002 US Open, and his relationship with New York fans has improved. However, returning to Bethpage in European team colors might feel more like 2002 than his recent visits.
While García’s Ryder Cup status appears to be improving, that is not the case for Phil Mickelson, who many thought would be the American captain at Bethpage, where fans have embraced him over the years.
US captain Keegan Bradley, who compiled a 4-1 Ryder Cup record alongside Mickelson in 2012 and 2014, hinted last week that his former partner – who finished 46th in the LIV singles rankings this year documented – will not take part in the events at Bethpage Black.
Given Mickelson’s pariah status given his harsh criticism of the PGA Tour, from which he remains banned, Bradley would provide a distraction if Mickelson were part of the team
“I personally don’t think he’s really interested,” Bradley told reporters in New York last week. “I have a lot to thank Phil for and I think he’s done so much for the American side of the Ryder Cup, but I’m not sure he’s going for the vice-captain role.”
This could have been Mickelson’s moment, and it could have been García’s moment, characters in a story waiting to be told.
© 2024 Global Golf Post LLC
