Sergio García says goodbye to the Ryder Cup

The last Augusta Masters showed that the personal gap that had occurred between some of the athletes, with insults and a break in friendships between them, had softened a lot as soon as they saw each other again. The green jacket dinner of champions worked miracles and kept the blood out of the river at the National. The best thing would be for everyone to follow their path and leave golf out of their disputes.

However, it is not so easy to destroy what has been built for so many years (the American Circuit dates from 1929 and the European Circuit from 1972) simply with a brilliant idea and a lot of money. The new project arrived hastily, without clear ideas and has evolved along the way, to the point that it now gives more importance to its team competition (they want to make it similar to Formula 1, with signings and commercial brands) than to the individual. Given this, the Americans reacted with even more money in the form of special tournaments (‘elevated’, they call them) to ensure the millionaire income of their faithful figures. And since among these are the main names of the ranks (Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy o Scottie Scheffler), have hardly suffered a dent in their image.

The Ryder Cup, a separate case

Amidst so much battle, a competition like the Ryder Cup (the third most watched in the world, after the Olympic Games and the Soccer World Cup) still harbored the illusion of having some of its assets from recent years. Especially the European team, in which Sergio García is their record man with 25.5 points added since he debuted in 1999.

As soon as this war began, the Spaniard withdrew from the PGA to avoid sanctions, something he did not do on this side of the Atlantic. Deep down he hoped that his career at Ryder would save him, since it was his parent company. But, as a result of a judicial resolution that allows organizations to punish dissidents and to which the European has clung, relations have been broken. García has definitively resigned and refuses to pay the 100,000 euro fine. Consequently, since he is no longer an active member, he is not eligible for the appointment in Rome next September, even if the captain handpicked him. It is a very sad way to end the career of the most brilliant continental golfer.