Sergio Garcia says Padraig Harrington will have ‘aces up his sleeve’ for 2020 Ryder

Sergio Garcia has claimed his past issues with Padraig Harrington have long been forgotten by the pair and expects the Irishman will “have a couple of aces up his sleeve” when he bids to lead Europe to victory in the 2020 Ryder Cup.

Sergio Garcia is bidding to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic for the second time in three years. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Garcia and Harrington had a long-running rivalry, which still seemed to be ongoing when Harrington called Garcia a “very sore loser” in the wake of the Spaniard winning The Masters in 2017.

“We don’t have any issues anymore,” insisted Garcia as he prepared to play in this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, which he won two years ago in the build up to that major breakthrough. “We’re totally fine, and we’ve been fine for a lot of years now, so I think you guys should stop bringing that up.

“At the end of the day, I think that we’re all a team and I’m sure that Pádraig is going to be a great captain and I hope that I’ll be a player on his roster and I’m going to play as hard as I can like I always do for Europe.”

Harrington was appointed as Thomas Bjorn’s successor a fortnight ago after being a vice captain in the last three matches against the Americans.

“He’s going to bring a lot of experience,” added Garcia, who became the all-time Ryder Cup points leader after vindicating his wildcard selection by helping Europe crush a star-studded US team in France in September.

“He’s been a great player for many years and he’s been a part of many Ryder Cup teams. So I think he’s going to bring a lot of good experience.

“You know, every captain brings a little extra thing, little different things from himself, and I’m sure that Pádraig will have a couple aces up his sleeve to make sure that the team is well prepared and fired up to retain that cup.”