Sergio Garcia just will not give up on his Ryder Cup ambition. The match’s all-time record points scorer has told Europe captain Luke Donald he is considering paying millions of dollars to make himself eligible for next year’s biennial tussle and so leave himself open to abuse from the notorious New York fans who first christened him “Waggle Boy” two decades ago.
Donald recently spoke with Garcia, with the Spaniard telling his long-time friend that he is mulling over whether to pay fines that are understood to run well past the $2 million (£1.5 million).
The 44-year-old is the only rebel who has yet to pay the DP World Tour’s initial £100,000 sanction for jumping ship to LIV Golf in 2022 – despite an arbitration hearing ratifying the punishment – and after resigning his membership last year, he would have to apply to recover his card. But Donald believes this is a possibility.
“We have had some chats, including on the phone a few weeks ago,” Donald said at a belated “Year To Go” event in Manhattan. “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.
“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.”
If the 2017 Masters champion did qualify automatically, it would appear that he would need to perform spectacularly to gain one of Donald’s wildcards. Not only might his presence be awkward in the team room – it is fair to say the split was not amicable – then the heat he would generate at Bethpage Black might also persuade Donald a captain’s pick is a lot more trouble than it would be worth.
At the 2002 US Open, the fans at the public course mercilessly targeted the young golfer then known as El Nino. Over nearly every shot, the galleries urged Garcia to “hit it, Waggle Boy” as he went through a tortuous process of gripping and regripping his club. By the end of a boisterous few days, spectators were counting the waggles out loud. Garcia eventually flipped, giving the crowd the middle finger. Unsurprisingly, he again received a hostile reception there at the 2009 US Open.
Bradley wants the New York crowd to be loud and proud
With US captain Keegan Bradley acknowledging on Tuesday that abuse could be a problem by revealing that there will be observers inside the ropes ready to turf out anyone deemed to have “crossed the line”, the prospect of ugly flare-ups are all too real.
“It’s really important to us, the US side, that it’s a fair place to play for both teams,” Bradley said. “Nobody on either team wants this to get uncomfortable or weird out there. But listen, you come into Yankee Stadium, you come into Madison Square Garden, it’s a tough place to play. And Luke and the boys know that.”
“I have total faith in the fans of New York to cheer on their team proudly and loudly. I don’t want them to cross the line, to do anything that would affect the course of play but it’s going to be a tough atmosphere.
“They’re going to be loud, they’re going to be passionate and the PGA of America’s going to do a great job making sure everything’s right.”
Bradley secured the winning point in the recent Presidents Cup and hopes of being a playing captain at Bethpage next year.
“Every vice-captain that I’m choosing will know this is a possibility,” Bradley added.
“My vice-captains are all going to be more than capable of doing this and I hope someday they’ll all be captains, but we’re so far away from that. I’m really focused on being a captain right now.”
