Ryder Cup a different animal without LIV teamsters

As the 44th Ryder Cup draws nearer, it appears that some of the LIV defectors are experiencing mixed feelings and even a hint of regret.

Sergio Garcia was pining for the old days when it was revealed recently that he made a last ditch gambit to be considered for selection in Rome.

As you may recall, the Spaniard had been in the first wave of players to quit the established tours in 2022, making it exquisitely clear in the aftermath that his decision was taken more in anger than in sorrow.

Unlike his Team Europe compadres Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, he ignored the £100,000 fine from the DP World Tour for appearing in the maiden LIV event in London. He subsequently flounced out of last year's BMW Championship in Wentworth after one round to attend a college football game in Texas.

Therefore, it was mildly surprising to learn that Garcia had made desperate overtures to return to the Team Europe fold, offering to pay the £700,000 worth of fines he had incurred and agreeing to play in events of the Tour's choosing for the remainder of 2023.

This borderline Costanza-esque move failed to win over the Tour elders, who have taken a more implacable stance than the Americans and insist that his abrupt resignation last year guarantees his omission.

As a result, it will be the first time since 1995 [Philip Walton's moment in the sun] that none of Garcia, Westwood and Poulter will feature in a Ryder Cup.

This will a jarring moment for younger golf fans, for whom the Ryder Cup has principally been about watching Ian Poulter strut around like Caesar, while highly-vaunted Americans visibly wilt in the glare of his game-face.

There is some irony in that the LIV players are mostly excluded given that the breakaway tour initially sought to