Golf

Faldo: Garcia not ‘useless’, just ‘lousy’ at Ryder Cup

Former Ryder Cup captain attempts to clarify criticism of Spaniard at Valhalla in 2008

Nick Faldo: “In semi-jest, I used a word which, maybe I could have chosen a better word, if I had gone for lousy, that might have captured it better because that was his worst-ever Ryder Cup.”
Nick Faldo: “In semi-jest, I used a word which, maybe I could have chosen a better word, if I had gone for lousy, that might have captured it better because that was his worst-ever Ryder Cup.”
Sat Sept 27 2014 - 11:43

Nick Faldo has attempted to clarify his controversial comments about Sergio Garcia at the Ryder Cup — by saying the Spaniard was "lousy" in the 2008 competition rather than "useless".

Faldo, in his role as a commentator for American channel NBC at Gleneagles, made the useless comment on Friday when describing Garcia’s performance at the 2008 competition.

He also said that the Spaniard displayed a “bad attitude” during what was the continental team’s only defeat this century.

Faldo, who was European captain at Valhalla that year, insisted he meant no malice in his remarks, which came as Garcia had an inconsistent first day at the latest contest, but his choice of an alternative word might still be contentious.

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The 57-year-old told NBC: “You’re doing live television. Terry (Gannon) throws out the word that Sergio’s career has been exceptional. Of course I jump in.

“In semi-jest, I used a word which, maybe I could have chosen a better word, if I had gone for lousy, that might have captured it better because that was his worst-ever Ryder Cup.

“I believe I know the reasons why but I am not going to add any more fuel to the fire.

“More importantly I wish Sergio and the European team an exceptional day today. That is all it is. It is a long time ago and when you react on live television it might come over a little harsh, but there was no malice. Simple. We move on. Let’s all have a great day.”

Garcia scored just one point from four matches at Valhalla but Faldo, whose captaincy was widely criticised at the time, controversially opted to leave the Spaniard and Lee Westwood out of a Saturday foursomes session.

Garcia himself did not want to get drawn into any fresh war of words, saying he was “not going to put myself down to his level”.

But there was evidence of a tension between Faldo and the players as Garcia’s team-mate Graeme McDowell jumped to the defence of the world number three.

McDowell said: “I’ll make a comment on that. I’m a rookie playing the Ryder Cup in 2008 and you’ve got one of the best Ryder Cup pairings of all time being sat down on a Saturday morning of a Ryder Cup that we go on to lose.

“I’d say Sergio was fairly useless, yeah, because he wasn’t able to play.”

Rory McIlroy, who played with Garcia twice on Friday, also put an arm round his colleague and said: “You’re not useless.”