Ryder Cup: Sergio Garcia can play modern-day Seve Ballesteros role
Thursday 6 September 2018 13:19, UK
Andrew Coltart describes the role Sergio Garcia can play in Europe's Ryder Cup side and discusses why Rafa Cabrera Bello did enough to earn a pick.
Three-quarters of Bjorn's picks were not a surprise, as Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter were pretty much what everybody expected, but it's fair to say there will be question marks over his final choice.
Sergio Garcia didn't qualify for the FedExCup Play-Offs, missed five major cuts in a row, and for the last five months hasn't been his normal self and the player we expect.
It is clearly understandable why he is in the side, but it just opens up a little bit of pressure on both Sergio and Thomas if he doesn't go out that first morning and pick up a point for Europe. If it goes the other way, that pressure is only going to magnify.
Garcia's in there for his experience and all the things that he can bring off the golf course. He is simply a European beast, who just brings so much drive, energy and courageousness to the team.
He will do anything his captain asks of him and has possibly been taken on board as a modern-day Seve Ballesteros. In the last few years of Seve's Ryder Cup life, his game wasn't where it should have been but he was brought in to nurse, nurture and guide rookies through their Ryder Cup experience.
Garcia is certainly capable of doing that and taking one of the five rookies under his wing and getting the best out of them. If he just finds a bit of form then he can be ruthless on the course too, as he is only three points away from breaking Sir Nick Faldo's all-time points record.
Tough decisions
We thought Bjorn would possibly favour form, especially given what happened to him in 2006 when he was in form and overlooked for someone more experienced, which might have favoured the likes of Rafa Cabrera Bello.
Cabrera Bello has shown some fantastic form over the last few weeks and had good finishes at both the Northern Trust and the Dell Technologies Championship, so is going along nicely in the FedExCup Play-Offs.
The Spaniard is a course specialist around Le Golf National, as although he missed the cut this year he had top-five finishes in his previous two starts there, so he certainly put in a worthy cause to be picked.
Countdown to the Ryder Cup
He finished undefeated when he made the team last time, he almost did enough to qualify by right this time and he has also performed at the time of year when players chasing picks are required to, so he will have felt he did enough to get the nod.
I would expect Cabrera Bello to be more disappointed about not being selected that Matt Wallace, whose career is on a colossal rise after a fourth win in just over 15 months last week at the Made In Denmark.
He may feel slightly aggrieved, but the tournaments he has won and the world rankings points that those tournaments have possessed have not been the strongest fields available. His average world ranking, even winning those three events, wasn't enough to even bring him again even ahead of the guys who were picked, so he can't be too disappointed.
Wallace is doing absolutely everything right and this may be a little bit of a setback to him, but his career is just on a phenomenal path right now and he has many years to become a Ryder Cup stalwart.
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