It looks as if we have said farewell to Sergio Garcia as a Ryder Cup player.
I know he has left for pastures new with LIV Golf, but it does seem a very sad way to say goodbye.
The rules are pretty clear: to be eligible to play for Europe you must play in four events on the DP World Tour calendar and at least one of them has to be in the country of your origin.
Sergio has only played in three events, the last being his infamous BMW PGA Championship appearance at Wentworth where he withdrew after the first round.
He did not play in the Spanish Open last week, is not taking part in the Andalucia Masters this week and has missed the deadline to enter next week’s event, the Mallorca Golf Open.
As a Ryder Cup fan, which I am, I find it all incredibly sad.
I grew up with the Ryder Cup and it has been a huge part of my family’s golfing history.
My uncle Bernard had a long association as a player and captain before I made the team for Gleneagles in 2014.
Sergio is a Ryder Cup legend. He has made 10 appearances and is our record point scorer with 28.5 points for Europe in his career.
Yet, through his own choice, he has faded out of sight when it comes to the match which led to him gaining legendary status.
Flawless Rahm is destined for greatness
I’m running out of superlatives for Jon Rahm.
He did not so much win the Spanish Open at the weekend as canter to victory with a flawless display.
To go 25 under par in four rounds, 15 under after the cut and nine under in the final round is as good as it gets – but that’s what Jon is.
The course we played on last week was quite a tricky one. You had to shape the ball around trees and but that was no problem for Jon.
I genuinely cannot find a fault in his game. He has no weaknesses.
He can draw the ball, fade it, hit it long, his iron play is terrific and his putting is fantastic.
He’s a really good player and a guy, much like Rory McIlroy, who has it all when he is on form. Both of them make the game look easy when they are firing on all cylinders.
Once he really gets a taste for being a major winner I expect Jon to go on and become a dominant figure for the four big prizes every year.
He is too good not to add to his US Open win last year and, at 27, Jon has plenty of time on his side in his quest to become a multiple major champion.
The course last week was the perfect preparation for what lies ahead this week in Sotogrande.
It is very Augusta-like with fast, sloped greens and it will be a very strategic challenge for the field.
You have to pick your time to be aggressive on every hole and there are pitfalls everywhere.
If you want to do well here, you are going to have to play well.
Champion Johnson will feel vindicated by LIV Golf move – but what’s next for rebel tour?
Congratulations to Dustin Johnson on being the inaugural LIV champion.
When DJ announced he was resigning his membership of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to join LIV, he did so with the minimum of fuss.
There was shock at him leaving, but he made his reasons for leaving clear.
He felt financially it was too good an opportunity to turn down and, with more than £27million banked from six events, he will feel vindicated by his decision.
I’d be lying if I said I’ve watched any coverage of LIV Golf, but I can respect DJ’s decision to join and he has clearly taken it seriously if he has been crowned champion.
I will be interested to see what the future holds for the new tour on the block though.
The ongoing push to have LIV events recognised with world ranking points continues to hit one stumbling block after another.
They have tried going through various other tours and had no success so far and it now looks like they may have to change their format.
A move to a 72-hole tournament with a cut has been reported and that would seem the logical avenue if they want to tick all the boxes for gaining ranking points as a 48-man invitational remains problematic as it stands.
But, if 72-hole tournaments do kick in next year, then look for the cries of hypocrisy to swirl.
The idea of LIV being something new, something different to the status quo will be laughed off by all and sundry if it changes into being the same format as what we already have everywhere else.
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