Sergio Garcia has outlined his Ryder Cup ambitions for the Bethpage Black match and beyond.
The Spaniard is the record Ryder Cup points scorer, but he was absent from the 2023 edition at Marco Simone after resigning from the DP World Tour, which left him ineligible.
The LIV golfer has since rejoined the circuit in an effort to qualify for September’s match either automatically or as one of European captain Luke Donald’s wildcards.
The Fireballs GC captain spoke exclusively to Al Arabiya presenter Micheal Prendergast before the return of LIV Golf with the season-opener in Saudi Arabia, where he explained his decision to take up membership of the DP World Tour again.
"I love the Ryder Cup. Everyone knows that,” he said. “It’s my favorite event of the year in golf. I think that we’re members of the European Tour again, of the DP World Tour. That was the first criteria to be eligible to be a part of the Ryder Cup.”
To make the team automatically, Garcia will need to play a minimum of four DP World Tour events during the qualifying period, and reach the top six of the standings at the conclusion of the Betfred British Masters in August.
However, even if he fails via that route he could tempt Donald into handing him a place as one of the six captain’s picks.
He added: “Now it’s going to depend on how I play throughout the year. And hopefully, with the amount of tournaments that I’m going to play, hopefully if I play really, really well I can make it on my own.
“If not, then obviously I will depend on a pick from the captain from Luke Donald. But we’ll see. The only thing I can do is play the best golf that I can play and then see where that kind of puts me.”
Garcia also touched on the possibility of captaining the side in the future, potentially in the 2027 edition at Adare Manor. However, the 45-year-old insisted that, for the foreseeable future, he wants to participate as a player.
He said: “I would love to be playing still. Obviously there have been some talks or there were some talks about maybe the possibility of me being the captain there. But obviously my focus as of now is on playing and hopefully making a few more Ryder Cups if my game is good enough.
"And when that doesn’t happen, then we can try to focus on other things. But I don’t want to think about that until I know that I’m not good enough to be a part of it.”
While Garcia’s Ryder Cup future remains up in the air, he has received an invite to another of the year’s biggest contests, the PGA Championship, following his most recent start in the Major, which came three years ago.
He said: “I’m super thankful that because of the way I played last year, I got invited back to the PGA Championship. It’s one of my favorite Majors. And I’m super excited about going back without a doubt.
“I think what, in my personal opinion, what the Majors want is the best players there. And obviously we have a lot of those great players that deserve to be in a lot of those Majors.”
That news came before it was announced that LIV golfers will be able to earn a place in the US Open thanks to a new exemption category, and Garcia explained all players can do is continue performing well for the chance of more Major opportunities.
He said: “The only thing we can do is kind of keep playing, keep playing well, keep representing our game the best way possible. And then the Majors will make their decisions in who they want playing in them.”
