Garcia vindicates pick by becoming greatest
Spaniard’s victory gives him most Cup points Faldo’s 25 points passed with win over Fowler
Of all the tears that flowed at Le Golf National yesterday, arguably the most poignant belonged to Sergio Garcia.
The man who played in his first Ryder Cup back at Brookline in 1999, who has played in every Ryder Cup since, bar 2010 when he was a vice-captain, who was written off as a wasted wildcard pick, finally won the point he needed to become the most successful Ryder Cup player of all time, surpassing Sir Nick Faldo’s 25 points, a mark which has stood for 21 years.
By the time Garcia won his match, 2&1 against Rickie Fowler, the cup was already in the bag. But that did not stop the magnitude of the occasion getting to the 36-yearold. Kissing his finger and pointing towards the heavens – perhaps at Seve Ballesteros, his hero and another Spanish Ryder Cup legend – Garcia broke down in tears.
“I don’t usually cry, but I couldn’t help it,” he said after first embracing Fowler, then his wife Angela, who was seen jumping up on the back of the golf cart this week while out supporting her husband.
“What a week. It’s been a rough year, but you know, we fought hard.
“Believe in me. I’m so happy to get the cup back.”
Eyebrows were raised when Garcia was named as one of captain Thomas Bjorn’s four wildcards. The Spaniard has slipped to 28 in the world since winning the Masters last year, missing all four cuts in this year’s majors, and many thought his Ryder Cup days behind him. But he fully vindicated Bjorn’s selection, delivering three points in four matches including yesterday’s victory over Fowler which saw him go one up at the first hole and never look back.
Garcia wobbled at the 15th, finding the water when two up and dropping a shot. But he rallied and made par at the short par three 16th where Fowler could only bogey, and then halved the 17th in fours.
Garcia had lost in Saturday afternoon’s foursomes playing with Alex Noren, 3&2 against Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. He knew that his match with Fowler could constitute
‘I don’t usually cry but I couldn’t help it. It’s been a rough year but you know we fought hard’
his final opportunity to catch Faldo. Although the way he struck the ball this week – his drive on the 17th on Saturday morning, when he and Rory Mcilroy were threatening to throw away a four-hole lead against Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka, particularly sticks in the mind – would suggest he may have a part to play in Whistling Straits in two years’ time.
“I feel like I’ve been just a little bit off,” he said. “I needed to play with the energy that the Ryder Cup deserved, and I’m so happy that I was able to play as well [as I did].”
By the time the players arrived at the press conference, Garcia was composed. He smiled as his teammates did lots of high-pitched gig- gling – a tic of his which the impressionist Conor Moore has made famous this week – but looked emotional again when he was given a round of applause by the entire European team.
Bjorn described his player’s achievement as fantastic. “I think Sergio’s Ryder Cup story tells its own … it’s a whole thing of its own, and it’s a brilliant story,” he said. “He is very much the centre of what we do.
“And you know, you’ve got to have great people that look at the team from the outside, but you’ve also got to have great people from the inside, and he’s one of them.”
The last word, though, went to Jon Rahm, the Spaniard who defeated Tiger Woods yesterday to claim his first – but surely not his last – Ryder Cup point. Rahm said he grew up watching Garcia, the same way Garcia grew up watching Ballesteros.
“To watch him make history, Ryder Cup history, it was a true honour,” he said.
This time Garcia pretended to cry, but Rahm wasn’t having any of it.
“I mean, you can cry as much as you want, but it’s still true,” he said, laughing.
Even Faldo, who famously described Garcia as “rubbish” after his Europe team were well beaten at Valhalla in 2008, was moved to congratulate the man who now stands alone on the all-time Ryder Cup top scorers list.
“Congrats Sergio, great playing this week,” Faldo tweeted last night.
“I was very proud to hang on to that record for 21 years!”