Ahead of this week’s Castelló Masters, which is played on his home club in Castellón, former champion Sergio Garcia has been tipped to make The 2012 Ryder Cup Team by the man who will oversee Europe’s defence of the trophy, his fellow Spaniard José María Olazábal.
Garcia, who took the title at Club de Campo del Mediterráneo in 2008, has featured in five Ryder Cups, winning on three occasions, but was only present at The Celtic Manor Resort last year as one of Captain Colin Montgomerie’s assistants.
Garcia is determined to make his sixth appearance when The Ryder Cup takes place at Medinah Country Club in Chicago, America, next year, and Olazábal is confident his compatriot can continue his recent renaissance – starting with this week’s €2million event in Valencia.
He said: “I am sure that Sergio will be in The Ryder Cup, he’s got a special charisma and a solid game. He helps the team, and he needs to enjoy himself on the course. His best motivation is to know what it feels like to be in The Ryder Cup without playing.”
Despite enjoying his role as one of Montgomerie’s Vice Captains in Wales, Garcia – who will compete alongside his friend and compatriot Rafael Nadal in the Wednesday Pro-Am – has vowed only to return to Ryder Cup duty in a playing capacity.
He said: “Without a doubt, The Ryder Cup is one of my goals next year. I want to make it – I don’t want to be chosen and leave that pick to the Captain. If things go as well as they have this year, I feel I have a very good chance. Everyone knows how special The Ryder Cup is for me. As José María said, I know what it’s like to be there without playing, and I don’t want to repeat the experience. Unless I go as Captain, I won’t go back to The Ryder Cup if I’m not playing.”
As for his chances of taking the title for a second time this week, Garcia is confident of mounting a serious challenge – whilst also wary of the strong field the fourth edition of the event has attracted.
He said: “It’s been a very positive year, there is still room for improvement, but things are much better than last year. I’m going to play as well as I can, and I hope it will be enough to be up there. I’ve won here before, so I know it’s possible.
“But there are some very good players here: José María Olazábal, defending champion Matteo Manassero, last week’s winner Tom Lewis, Alexander Noren, Colin Montgomerie, John Daly, and at least another 14 or 15 of this year’s winners. Any one of them could be 20 under par on Sunday, and make things very difficult for the rest of the field.
“But I’m feeling much more confident about my game now. What I’m feeling right now is very different to what I was feeling before. Last year, I was here physically, but not mentally. I tried hard, but my mind wasn’t where it needed to be. Now I feel like I am ready to fight, even if things don’t go as planned. I’m looking forward to playing after three weeks off. I’m still not 100 per cent, but I feel like I’m getting closer all the time.”
