Fitzpatrick would welcome Ryder Cup inclusion of LIV Golf players such as Garcia

By Sports Desk December 28, 2022

Matt Fitzpatrick would welcome the inclusion of Sergio Garcia in Europe's Ryder Cup team despite the Spaniard switching to the LIV Golf tour.

Europe's preparations for the 2023 tournament in Rome have been badly affected by the sport's ongoing civil war since the inception of the controversial LIV Golf in 2021.

Henrik Stenson was stripped of the Europe captaincy in July after joining the Saudi-funded circuit, while it remains to be seen whether his replacement Luke Donald selects players who made the switch.

As such, Ryder Cup veterans like Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are among those in danger of being ruled ineligible, with the United States ruling out the selection of LIV Golf players.

But U.S. Open champion Fitzpatrick sees no problem in selecting the likes of Garcia – who is Europe's all-time leading points scorer at the Ryder Cup with 28.5 – so long as they do not enter PGA Tour or DP World Tour events.

"It might be some players from other places in the world," Fitzpatrick told Sky Sports News. "I think there definitely are a few personal relationships that have been dented by this. I'm not bothered, I just want to win, and I'm sure those boys do too.

"Sergio would be the one that would stand out for me, particularly. I'm happy to share a room with him, if that's going to be the case. I can corner him off for everyone else.

"It was a tough one because [Stenson] had started gearing up for Rome, making notes and putting plans together. And then it's like, 'sorry, lads, I'm off.'

"As long as you go and don't come back, I don't have an issue. Go take the money, go play wherever you want, I could not care less, just don't come back and then take spots from other guys that want to play.

"I understand that there are the likes of Westy [Westwood], Poulter and Sergio that have played a lot in Europe over the years and have done their bit, and they have. I can't ever knock them for that, they've done way more than I have for the European Tour."

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