Garcia plans two month break, Ryder Cup position unlikely
Sergio Garcia surprised everyone in an announcement late Sunday evening that he would be taking a two-month break from golf following his participation in the PGA Championship next week. He will not be returning to the sport until the end of October when he will contend in the Castellon Masters on his home course in Spain.
“I need the break,” Garcia explained. “I need to miss the game a little bit.”
The only reason Garcia might end his break early is if Colin Montgomerie selects Garcia as a wild card for the European Ryder Cup team. This year the top eight positions on the points list are already held by the strongest collection of players the European team has held in awhile. Garcia doesn’t seem bothered that he might not be playing on this year’s team, even though the Europeans are heavily favored to win this time.
After shooting 70 on Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational, Garcia decided that he wouldn't be playing in either the FedEx Cup playoffs or the final European Ryder Cup qualifying event, both of which overlapped and would have required the Spaniard to choose between one or the other.
Garcia has only played in 17 events this year, and his best finish was losing in the semifinals of the Match Play Championship earlier this year in Arizona. He has dropped to 50th place in the world rankings and has been win-less for the past two years. It seems Garcia has been planning this break for a while.
As it stands Garcia, 30, is 19th on the list for the European Ryder Cup team, and doesn’t have a good shot making the top eight if he misses the last qualifying event.
Garcia was in second place on the list 16 months ago, and has been a fixture on the European Ryder Cup team since 1999 when he played for his country for the first time at 19-years old.
He has never lost a foursome and has a career record of 14-6-4 in the Ryder Cup.
Garcia would need to finish at least third at the PGA Championship if he wanted any chance of qualifying on the European points list or else hope that he was one of team captain Colin Montgomerie’s three wild card picks.
“I’ve talked to him,” Garcia said about Montgomerie, “He knows what I’m planning to do.”
Other players in the running for the wild card selections are Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey, and Justin Rose.
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