Sergio Garcia has withdrawn from the DP World Tour’s Amgen Irish Open after being passed over for a Ryder Cup captain’s pick. Instead of heading to Ireland, he’s staying in the U.S. where he played golf Wednesday with fellow Spaniard and tennis star Carlos Alcaraz.
Garcia, 45, admitted his decision to pull out of the event at the K Club was directly tied to not making European captain Luke Donald’s 12-man Ryder Cup team. Europe’s all-time points earner wasn’t considered a serious contender for one of the six captain’s picks after a disappointing year where he failed to crack the top 30 in any major and finished outside the top 10 in eight of his ten LIV starts since winning in Hong Kong in March.
The veteran did receive a phone call from Donald about the decision. “It went fine, but not the call I wanted,” Garcia told GolfMagic.
“I was so looking forward to being a part of that team, and mentally it was kind of tough,” Garcia explained. “I didn’t want to go there and not be fully engaged in the tournament, so I decided to take a little time off, spend it with family and do some things outside of golf to reboot and recharge the batteries.”
Garcia was spotted in Queens on Tuesday watching Alcaraz’s straight-sets victory over Jiří Lehečka in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. After winning, Alcaraz revealed their golf plans to the on-court interviewer.
“We’ll discuss tomorrow, but he has to give me at least between 10 and 15 shots at least,” Alcaraz joked as cameras showed a laughing Garcia and his wife, Angela. “I’m not that good, Sergio, c’mon.”
This would have been just Garcia’s second DP World Tour appearance this year. He missed the cut at the BMW International Open earlier this summer, his only start on the tour in 2023. With LIV Golf’s season now complete, it’s unclear when he’ll return to competitive action.
“Now, the only thing I can do is support the team from home,” Garcia said. “It’s as simple as that. I’ll be watching and cheering on the European team.”
