Rory McIlroy can't understand Sergio Garcia’s Irish Open snub
Rory McIlroy at the Amgen Irish OpenPro/Am at The K Club, Kildare. Pic: Morgan Treacy, Inpho
Rory McIlroy said he does not understand Sergio Garcia’s absence from this week’s Amgen Irish Open after the Spanish major champion withdrew from the tournament following his failure to make Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
The 2017 Masters champion was due to play the DP World Tour event at the K Club in Kildare, starting on Thursday, but pulled out when European skipper Luke Donald overlooked Garcia when announcing his six captain’s picks for the biennial match against the USA at New York’s Bethpage at the end of the month.
Garcia, 45, has made 10 Ryder Cup appearances and would have equalled Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood as Europe’s record appearance maker in the matchplay event and the Spaniard cited his omission as a reason for his Irish Open no-show this week, saying it was mentally “kind of tough” and “I didn’t want to go there and not be fully engaged in the tournament.”
Speaking at the K Club on Wednesday, current Masters champion McIlroy addressed Garcia’s absence and said: “He was supposed to be here.” Asked if he understood Garcia’s upset, Ireland’s world number two said: “Em, no, I don’t. It would have been great for the tournament if Sergio had played. But obviously he was trying to keep himself sharp, if he did get a pick.
“He has the right to enter and pull out of any tournaments he wants to. I think Luke has assembled a very strong 12 players and I think the right 12 players.
“I'm sure he (Garcia) is disappointed, but at the same time, I'm sure he wishes Europe well and wants us to win.”
Captain Donald, who is playing at the K Club this week, on Monday selected Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka and Matt Fitzpatrick as his picks alongside automatic qualifiers McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Bob MacIntyre, Tyrrell Hatton and Rasmus Hojgaard. Speaking to the media on the eve of the Irish Open, Donald said of Garcia’s no show: “I think Sergio’s disappointed like all of the others that felt like they might have a chance to make the team.
“I don’t tell people what to do with their schedules unless it’s really close. He fully understands that the Irish was after the qualification finish, after the team was picked. Unfortunately with Sergio I just felt like his form just wasn’t quite good enough to make the team that was full of so many people playing well.”
McIlroy, meanwhile, has returned to the venue where he won his lone Irish Open title in 2016 and will tee off on Thursday at 08:00 alongside South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence and Kristoffer Reitan of Norway. He said he was looking forward to returning to his home Open for the first time since winning his Masters Green Jacket at Augusta National last April, when he completed a career grand slam of major titles.
“It's good to be back,” McIlroy said. “I had a great experience at Portrush a few weeks ago for The Open. I can't wait to get out there and tee it up tomorrow and get on the first tee as the Masters Champion and go from there.
“Great to be back. I've got plenty of nice memories from the K Club over the years, from attending the Ryder Cup as a 17-year-old to obviously winning the Irish Open in 2016. It's been a great place for me and I'm excited to be back.”
