Luke Donald revealed he has held talks with Sergio Garcia as the European stalwart plots a shock return to the Ryder Cup.
Garcia resigned his DP World Tour membership in May last year after being slapped with fines and suspensions for playing on the breakaway Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.
That decision left the Spaniard, Europe’s highest all-time points scorer in the competition’s history, ineligible for selection last year at Marco Simone as Donald’s side regained the trophy.
However, fresh off a resurgent year which saw him finish third in the LIV’s end-of-season individual standings, Garcia is now said to be keen to make a return to the biennial match play competition.
And European captain Donald said he has spoken to his former teammate about the possibility of a spectacular comeback at Bethpage Black next year.
‘He (Garcia) resigned his membership a couple of years ago but we have had some chats,’ Donald said at an event in New York to mark the countdown to next year’s event.
‘He’s considering rejoining; he’d have to follow all the rules and regulations like everyone else and if he does that he will be eligible to partake in the Ryder Cup.’
Asked if Garcia would reconsider rejoining the DP World Tour to make his case, Donald added: ‘Yeah, we chatted on the phone a couple of weeks ago. He’s certainly very interested in doing that.
‘He understands everything that’s involved and again, the decision has to go to him whether he’s prepared to do all that. But certainly we’ve had that discussion.’
While Garcia may be keen to make a return, the feasibility of that task may prove rather more difficult.
To regain his DP World Tour membership and play the minimum for events to make himself eligible for selection, the 44-year-old would first have to clear substantial fines due to his LIV commitments.
The Spaniard could choose to appeal the fines, as done by fellow LIV golfers Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, but there is no guarantee any appeal will be successful and would leave him with a hefty bill to foot.
With LIV events not receiving points towards automatic qualification, Garcia would also almost certainly be left requiring a captain’s pick from Donald to get back on the team for what would be his eleventh Ryder Cup.
And there is also Garcia’s fractured relationships with several current European players for Donald to consider. While he maintains a strong friendship with fellow countryman Jon Rahm, his relationship with Rory McIlroy, for example, was damaged after disagreements between the pair when Garcia defected to LIV.
US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, meanwhile, said he would have no hesitation in selecting LIV golfers to represent his American team next year.
‘For us, I am going to take the 12 best players,’ he said.
‘If we feel like there are a few guys there, from one guy, two guys, whatever it is. Then we are going to do that, but we are too far out to figure out how all this will play out but we are definitely going to take the 12 best players, whoever that shakes out.’
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