Sergio Garcia insists captain Darren Clarke was not a fault for Europe’s defeat at this year’s Ryder Cup, believing the players have to accept responsibility for the loss.

Europe slumped to a 17-11 loss to America at Hazeltine National Golf Club, after failing to recover from losing all four foursomes matches on the opening day of the event.

The defeat was Europe’s first loss to the US since 2008, but Spaniard Garcia, who collected two points from his five matches at the event, insists it is the players who are to blame for the defeat and not captain Clarke.

“In the European team, we never criticise our captains. It doesn’t matter if they are good or bad – the captain can do everything right – if the players don’t play well enough,” he said.

“The Ryder Cup just comes down to playing well that week and making more putts than your opponent and we’ve been fortunate to do that for a while now and this year, they were a little bit better than us.”

Garcia is a Ryder Cup veteran, appearing in eight events since making his debut in 1999, but he insists he still has more to offer Europe as a player, and is not thinking about captaining the team at the 2018 edition of the tournament.

He added: “The next in line are Paul Lawrie, Thomas Bjorn and probably Miguel Angel Jimenez. They are three great choices, three great men.

“They’ve been part of the Ryder Cup for a long time. At the moment I’m not thinking about it. I want to play in many more. I’m still in great shape and playing good golf.”