Garcia shakes off Ryder woe for title defence

Sergio Garcia hopes to put the disappointment of Europe's Ryder Cup defeat behind him when he launches the defence of his PGA Tour Sanderson Farms Championship title in Mississippi on Thursday.

The 41-year-old Spaniard is the only player involved in last week's Ryder Cup in the field for the tournament in Jackson, and says that despite a gruelling week in Wisconsin, his energy levels is good.

Garcia was one of the lone bright spots in Europe's 19-9 mauling by the US at Whistling Straits, winning three of his four games.

Despite the traumatic scale of the Europe loss, Garcia said Wednesday he has already been able to put the defeat into perspective.

"I've been fortunate to play many Ryder Cups and win many and also lose some," Garcia said. "We just got outplayed. It's as simple as that."

"They played better than us and we gave it everything we had. So we can't really ask ourselves for more.

"Obviously we would have loved to do a little bit better and probably be a little bit sharper on those key moments where they were sharp and we were just a little bit off and they took advantage of that.

"But other than that it's fine. I think the way I look at it there were so many positive things coming out of it, even though we lost, that you just got to look at those things."

Garcia said he had not slept much on Sunday after the defeat, but had managed to rest at his home in Austin.

"I feel pretty good at the moment," he said. "Obviously you all know how much I love the Ryder Cup and there's a lot of energy involved in it and that you put on it and stuff. I still love it every time I play it.

"At the moment I feel quite good. I don't think it has hit me yet and hopefully it won't hit me until I get back to Austin next week so I can have a good solid week here."

While other players involved at Whistling Straits have opted for a break this week, Garcia said he was determined to tee it up in Mississippi to defend his title.

"I try to defend my titles every time I can. I haven't been able to do it every single time, but I love to do it every possibility I have," he said.

© 2021 AFP