Sergio Garcia chosen as Ryder Cup wildcard

European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn has selected out-of-form Sergio Garcia to take on the USA as he is “the heartbeat of the team”.

Garcia joins Sweden’s Henrik Stenson plus English duo Paul Casey and Ian Poulter in completing the dozen stars who will look to regain the trophy from the Americans later this month.

While the other three seemed obvious picks, the selection of Garcia is more controversial because he is in a poor run of form.

The 2017 Masters champion did finish in a share of eighth at the Open de France but has missed seven cuts in his last 12 outings.

However, Bjorn is unconcerned and feels the 38-year-old Spaniard had to be there.

“You have to look at Sergio in certain ways, he is the heartbeat of the team,” he said. “It’s like a football team going without their captain. He makes everybody around him better. He is everything that the European Ryder Cup team is about.”

Garcia admits that his poor performances left Bjorn with a tough choice to make but is confident he will be able to make a significant contribution at Le Golf National.

“It probably wasn’t an easy decision for Thomas Bjorn,” he confessed. “He knows what I bring to the team, game-wise and in the team room. It’s been a tough year, but I’ve been working hard and I feel like my game is coming along. I’m now ready to try and help the team win the Ryder Cup back.”

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