The 2025 Ryder Cup probably has to be considered a success from a LIV Golf perspective, with three of their stars set to play important roles at Bethpage Black.
Brooks Koepka was LIV Golf‘s only representative in Rome. Some doubted whether the American team wanted Koepka in their ranks at Marco Simone. And he did not exactly have a great week in Italy.
This time around, Bryson DeChambeau makes his return to the Ryder Cup stage. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will be contenders to play at least four sessions for Europe in New York.
But there was a stage in the year when it appeared that another LIV player may put themselves in the mix to play at Bethpage.
LIV Golf star’s actions criticised ahead of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black
Luke Donald confirmed last year that Sergio Garcia was taking up membership with the DP World Tour again in the hope of making his 11th appearance in the Ryder Cup. Garcia is the leading points scorer in the event’s history.
Garcia impressed on LIV in 2024. He also went on to win in Hong Kong earlier this year. However, his form was underwhelming from there. Garcia himself admitted that he would reject a call from Donald at one stage because of how he was playing.
But when the decision was taken to leave the 2017 Masters champion out, it seems that Garcia did not take the call particularly well.
Garcia came in for criticism for withdrawing from the Irish Open, citing his disappointment over not being a pick. Donald confirmed Garcia’s form had simply not been good enough.
And speaking on Subpar, Johnson Wagner hinted that Garcia may have even damaged his hopes of captaining the team in the future with his reaction.
“Didn’t Sergio handle the whole selection thing poorly and then end up withdrawing from the [Irish Open] because he didn’t get a call from Luke Donald? That’s a little petty to me, I don’t know that’s great captain behaviour,” he said.
“The way he went about it didn’t show a lot of class. Someone’s who been a part of so many great European Ryder Cup teams, it kind of was a slap in the face to the whole process that they made, when really Sergio had not done much throughout the year to even garner any sort of decision as a pick.
“I think he did win one LIV event this year, but didn’t really show up in the majors at all. That was shocking to me, and maybe just him trying to get a bit of publicity. I guess all press is good press when it comes to Sergio Garcia.”
Why picking Sergio Garcia was not worth the risk for European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald
There were plenty of reasons to pick Garcia. The elder statesman role is arguably underrated, particularly in an away Ryder Cup. And it should not be forgotten that Garcia won three points in 2021 at Whistling Straits.
He was also part of the teams that won on American soil in both 2004 and 2012.
But with Donald having the opportunity to pick 11 of the 12 players who were in Rome, it was no surprise that he opted for continuity. That will mean that Justin Rose will play the senior role within the team once again.
Garcia upset a lot of players with his actions before his move to LIV Golf in 2022. And while the temperature has cooled considerably over the years, Donald would have known that it could have been a risk to turn to the Spaniard for Bethpage.
Given the other options available to him, he clearly felt that it was not a gamble worth taking.
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