Rory McIlroy makes it clear that he doesn’t think LIV golfers should be on European Ryder Cup team
Rory McIlroy makes it clear that he doesn’t think LIV golfers should be on European Ryder Cup team: Despite the LIV Golf League’s best efforts to connect with other premier leagues and golf organizations worldwide, there is persistent resistance from golf’s most influential figures.
Currently, the PGA Tour is in the middle of a legal battle with a few LIV Golf players and the league itself about whether or not to reinstate those players’ eligibility to play on the Tour.
The DP World Tour in Europe has authorised golfers to play, although the situation is still unclear.
Players like Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, and Rory McIlroy resent LIV Golf players for seizing their spots on the DP World Tour at last week’s BMW PGA Championship.
McIlroy, who is in Rome this week to compete in the Italian Open at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, was asked about LIV golfers and whether they should be included on the Ryder Cup team for 2019.
I don’t think any of those guys should be on the Ryder Cup Team, McIlroy has remarked more than once.
DP
DP World Tour is in a tight spot. Given its depleted position and the fact that it is not nearly as strong as the PGA Tour, having some big-name LIV golfers playing would actually be attractive for the tour to draw interest and attendance (even if it’s predicated around a little of controversy) this summer.
And then there’s the Ryder Cup, which McIlroy has brought up several times in the last few weeks. Sergio Garcia, a defector from the LIV, questioned DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley at a player-commissioner meeting at the BMW PGA Championship last week if he and others like him would be permitted to play in the 2023 Ryder Cup.
According to Golf Digest, this is what happened.
Currently, the LIV Golf League is not an OWGR-sanctioned event. Hence LIV Golf League players cannot earn Ryder Cup points.
However, it’s possible that none of this would amount to much anyhow, given that the vast majority of former Ryder Cup players who are worried about the event’s future are not strong enough golfers to compete.
Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter probably wouldn’t have made the cut, and while Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey would have gotten in as captain’s picks, neither is having a great season.
Statements
McIlroy has stated, “At the moment, I wouldn’t say I’ve got much of a relationship with [the Europeans who moved over to LIV Golf].”
“Nonetheless, if you’re only considering the Ryder Cup, that’s not where the team is headed. They’ve competed in a combined total of maybe 25 or 30 Ryder Cups. But young players like the Hojgaard brothers (Nicolai and Rasmus), Bobby Mac (Robert MacIntyre), and others are the ones who will carry the Ryder Cup into the future. They are the topics that need to be discussed.”
That’s a good point, rendering most of this discussion irrelevant. McIlroy, Rahm, Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Tyrrell Hatton make up the new core for Europe, and they aren’t planning to rely on their old lions.
Declarations
I believe the European Team has a core of six or seven guys that I think we all know are going to be on that team, and then it’s up to some of the younger guys to rise up,” McIlroy said.
We probably needed to start again anyhow, though. The same core group of guys served us well for a long time, but as I was saying, all good things must end. I suppose I might say that Whistling Straits is a useful dividing line.
“Things have moved on from there. We already have a solid foundation, but instead of filling those three or four positions with grizzled veterans, let’s give some young players a shot to prepare for the future. That, I believe, is crucial.”
Whether or not LIV golfers can compete on the DP World Tour will be the subject of a hearing at the start of 2023.
This will substantially impact players’ ability to earn OWGR points and qualify for majors if approved. However, how likely is it that any of these players will make it onto the Rome Ryder Cup team? It’s highly unlikely that it will make a difference whether or not they are granted full-time status on the DP World Tour.
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