Jon Rahm wants ONE LIV Golf pro on Ryder Cup team "even if he was missing a leg"

Jon Rahm has revealed the only LIV Golf player he would want on Luke Donald's European Ryder Cup team this September would be his Spanish compatriot Sergio Garcia. 

Rahm, who is already assured of a place in the European Ryder Cup team, was speaking on the Golf Sin Etiquetas podcast which was translated into English by Handicap 54.

World No.3 Rahm addressed a number of topics on the podcast episode, none bigger than quashing latest speculation linking him with a move to LIV Golf and his recent chats with Phil Mickelson. 

The two-time major champion also divulged a hilarious tale about Tyrrell Hatton.

Rahm, 28, then spoke about Garcia, 43, being the only LIV Golf player he would deem worthy of a place in Donald's 12-man European team to face the United States in Rome next month: 

But despite Rahm's calls for his good pal Garcia to feature on Donald's side, it is highly unlikely going to happen due to the record European points scorer having already torn up his DP World Tour membership.

All European Ryder Cup players must be European and hold a DP World Tour card. 

That no longer applies to Garcia, who also resigned from the PGA Tour when taking a huge pay cheque to join LIV Golf last June. 

Related: Rahm FUMING Garcia is being forced out the Ryder Cup

Unless the European Ryder Cup team are to bend the rules this month following the DP World Tour and PGA Tour's recent shock merger with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, Garcia and other European LIV Golf pros such as Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter will play no part in the 2023 Ryder Cup. 

Garcia is the all-time leading points scorer at the Ryder Cup with 28.5 points, which is three points more than Sir Nick Faldo. 

While past experience is undoubtedly vital at a Ryder Cup, so too is recent form, something Garcia has found hard to find in recent months.

Garcia missed the cut at The Masters, finished T27 at the US Open, and then missed out on The Open for the first time since 1997 when failing to come through qualifying - a day that saw him lose his cool with a cameraman. 

In Garcia's nine starts on LIV Golf this season, he has recorded just three top-10 finishes with a best result of second in Singapore. 

If Sergio Garcia was eligible for the Ryder Cup this year, would you pick him?

— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) August 2, 2023

Rahm and Garcia teamed up admirably last time out at the Ryder Cup when winning all three games they played together at Whistling Straits. 

But Europe were heavily defeated in the end with a record loss at the hands of Steve Stricker's dominant US side. 

While there is unlikely going to be any LIV Golf involvement in the 2023 European Ryder Cup team, the story reads a little differently over on Zach Johnson's United States side ahead of the biennial clash at Marco Simone Golf Club. 

That is because the PGA of America runs the US Ryder Cup team, not the PGA Tour. 

As it stands, the only LIV Golf player in the automatic standings for a place on the team is five-time major champion Brooks Koepka. 

Even if Koepka was to fall out of the automatic spots over the coming weeks, he would very much seem an odds-on shot to receive one of Johnson's six picks following his emphatic US PGA Championship victory and near-miss behind Rahm at The Masters earlier this season.

Other LIV Golf players who could potentially sneak in to the US Ryder Cup team would be Dustin Johnson, who went 5-0 last time out, Talor Gooch, who has won three times on LIV Golf this season, and Bryson DeChambeau, who has both Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup experience. 

Would you pick Sergio Garcia if he was eligible for the European Ryder Cup team? What do you make of Rahm's comments? How many LIV Golf players do you think will make the US Ryder Cup team? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.