Jon Rahm has had his say on Sergio Garcia 's DP World Tour resignation, with the European stalwart no longer eligible to compete or captain at the Ryder Cup.
Garcia joined Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson in quitting the DP World Tour earlier this mont h after being fined £100,000 for joining LIV Golf. The foursome have been mainstays in the European Ryder Cup setup for the past two decades, and played pivotal roles in the continent's recent successes over the USA.
Their careers in the team match-play competition are no longer though, having lost the eligibility to represent Team Europe when handing in their Tour memberships.
Arguably the biggest absence that will be felt within the European setup is that of Garcia, with the Spaniard the most successful points scorer in Ryder Cup history. Whilst Poulter and Westwood's playing days in blue and gold looked to be over, Garcia most likely would have been included in the 12 at this year's event in Rome.
Of course this is no longer the case, and one man who will miss him greatly is fellow countryman Rahm. "I’m going to miss him,” he admitted week’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. "We had a great partnership at Whistling Straits. I’m going to mention history again one more time.
“A Spanish duo in the Ryder Cup I think to me is embedded into the roots of the Ryder Cup. Look with Seve (Ballesteros) and Ollie (José María Olazábal) were able to do throughout their partnership, right. So it’s a little sad to me that politics have gotten in the way of such a beautiful event."
The discussion surrounding whether LIV players should be involved at the Ryder Cup has gone on for some time, and despite his PGA Tour allegiances, Rahm believes where players play their golf should not matter when it comes to picking the team of 12. "Again, it’s the best Europeans against the best American, period," he went on.
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"And whatever is going on, who is playing LIV and who is not playing LIV to me shouldn’t matter. It’s whoever is best suited to represent the European side. And I have a hard time to believe that the best player Europe has ever had, the most successful player Europe has had on the Ryder Cup isn’t fit to be on the team."
Despite the absence of Garcia, Rahm hopes another Spaniard will be able to join him Rome, with the likes of Adrián Otaegui and Pablo Larrazábal finding form at the right time. He went on: "So, it’s unfortunate. I will miss him. But with that said I want to be hopeful, there’s a couple of Spanish guys playing really good right now, so hopefully they can join me on the team.”
