World number 12 Sergio Garcia is targeting victory at the Thailand Golf Championship this weekend to aid his bid to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games and to secure a spot in the 2016 European Ryder Cup team.
Garcia, who won the Thailand Golf Championship in 2013, took his first title in nearly two years with victory in an Asian Tour event in Vietnam last week. His love of the Amata Spring Country Club course in Chonburi ensured he entered this week’s championship in Thailand full of confidence.
“I love Thailand. It’s a great week and a good way to finish the year,” said the 35-year-old Spaniard, who has played every edition of the Thailand Golf Championship since the inaugural event in 2011. “We always get treated amazingly well and it’s always nice to return to a course where I’ve had success at in the past. I have really good memories.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia is searching for a second Thailand Golf Championship title this week following his victory in 2013.
Golf returns to the Olympic Games next summer for the first time since 1904 and Garcia is relishing the chance of representing his country at the biggest sporting event of them all.
“The Olympics are a great motivation for me. I represent Spain everywhere I go, whether it’s at regular tournaments or the Ryder Cup, but to be an Olympian, to be alongside the best athletes from all the other sports would be something very special,” said Garcia, who finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy at The Open in 2014. “You don’t get many chances to be an Olympic athlete so I really hope it can happen.”
Garcia has been a part of the European Ryder Cup team on no less than seven occasions and with Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke also playing at the Thailand Golf Championship, the Castellon-born player is keen to impress his skipper and ensure he makes it to Hazeltine National Golf Club, venue for the 2016 match.
“I don’t need to tell anyone how much the Ryder Cup means to me – everything!” said Garcia. “But I need to step up my game and play well. I need to make sure I get there.”
Aside from Clarke, Garcia is joined in the field at Amata Spring by a number of his Ryder Cup colleagues, including defending Thailand Golf Championship winner Lee Westwood, two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, France’s Victor Dubuisson and the man who secured the winning point for Europe at Gleneagles in 2014 – Jamie Donaldson.
Bubba Watson, the two-time Masters champion and three-time United States Ryder Cup team representative is also playing in Thailand this week.
The tournament reaches its conclusion on Sunday, December 13. See thailandgolf championship.com for more information.
