Jon Rahm doesn’t care which tour players compete when it comes to the Ryder Cup. He wants the best players from Europe and the United States to face each other in what he calls a “beautiful” event.
The Europeans were beaten two years ago at Whistling Straits, but Rahm teamed up with fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia to take three of his team’s nine points. That partnership will not be rekindled in Italy this year, with Team Europe captain Luke Donald of England telling Garcia he will not be considered.
Garcia left LIV Golf last year and recently stepped down from the DP World Tour along with England’s Richard Bland, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who was ousted as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain when it joined the Saudi-backed league.
“I’m going to miss him,” Rahm said of Garcia on Tuesday before the Memorial Tournament. “We had a great partnership at Whistling Straits … So it makes me a little sad that politics got in the way of such a beautiful event. It’s the best Europeans against the best Americans, period. And whatever happens, Who’s playing LIV and who’s not playing LIV to me shouldn’t matter.”
US team captain Zach Johnson said last week that it would be “irresponsible” for him to talk about the LIV players on his team even though Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship, which rise to second place in the US Ryder Cup standings. .
The United States will try to win on European soil for the first time since 1993, and Rahm believes Garcia, Europe’s leading Ryder Cup points scorer, should play in Rome in September.
Fellow Spaniards Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal scored 12 points as they tied for a record 15 times, and Rahm envisioned playing at least one more Ryder Cup with Garcia, who has a career-high 28.5 points for in Europe
Rahm is second in the Official World Golf Ranking. The next Spaniard is Pablo Larrazabal at No. 53, followed by Adrian Otaegui at No. 81 and Adri Arnaus at No. 92. Garcia has dropped to No. 218 as LIV continues to await the outcome of his bid to earn OWGR points for his Events.
“A Spanish duo in the Ryder Cup I think for me is embedded in the roots of the Ryder Cup,” Rahm said. “… He is the most fit to represent the European team. And I find it hard to believe that the best player Europe has ever had, the most successful player Europe has ever had in the Ryder Cup is not fit to be there. the team.
“It’s a shame. I’ll miss him. But having said that I want to be hopeful, there are a couple of Spaniards playing really well right now so hopefully they can join me in the team.”
