Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy were all ready to share their thoughts on the Ryder Cup roster for Team Europe amid the LIV golf disruptions.
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We’re more than a year away from the shots being fired in Rome next fall, but you wouldn’t know it by following the words and actions of players this week at the BMW PGA Championship in London. The Ryder Cup is on everyone’s minds.
For what?
You guessed it: LIV Golf. The disruptive force that drove a wedge into the world of men’s professional golf has I crossed the pond to Wentworth and the site of the DP World Tour’s flagship event. Every year, Europe’s best golfers (and even some of America’s best) travel to England for another premier tournament. This year, not everyone is welcome.
But amid the discussion about who should and who shouldn’t be, there is a latent reality that 2023 Ryder Cup team roster starts this week. This is the first event that will distribute qualifying points to this European Ryder Cup team, the same team that had to replace his captain less than two months ago as he left for LIV.
The new captain, Luke Donald, has received some pointed questions this week of LIV golfers who have declared their interest in participating in 12 months. But it is even far too early for him to be able to decide anything, especially since some of these players are in court against the DP World Tour, and will be heard for the first time in court in February.
Can the Ryder Cup discussion wait until then? No of course not.
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were asked about LIV golfers being allowed to play in the Ryder Cup, and both seemed to agree on a few things, mainly that LIV golfers probably aren’t good enough at this stage. Both players were interviewed by Jamie Weir of Sky Sports On Wednesday, they shared their thoughts on the Ryder Cup roster and the extent to which LIV golfers deserve to fit into the next European system.
Lowry: “With all due respect, a lot of these LIV guys, I think they know each other. And that’s why they went to LIV. Their Ryder Cup days are probably over.
McIlroy: “Their best days are behind them and I think they would admit that too. We have to think about the future of the European team. We have a group of seven players – a core of seven, I think – and we need to fill those extra five with ambitious young players. We need to bleed some new people in Rome.
The main seven that McIlroy is referring to are most likely himself, Lowry, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood. Which is simply to say that Lowry’s opinion above matters, and McIlroy’s opinion matters just as much, and probably more.
But what about Rahm’s opinion?
The Spaniard was the most valuable European on last fall’s team, then ranked No. 1 in the world. He teamed up with Sergio Garcia for what he likes to call one of his best golf memories. But will Garcia be welcome on next year’s team? Rahm has already said he would like to see Garcia play the Ryder Cup again. And this week, he once again delved into this complicated and nuanced debate.
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“I’ve said many times how important the Ryder Cup is to me,” Rahm said Tuesday. “I talked to my dad about it the other day, and if it wasn’t for the Ryder Cup, I probably wouldn’t be here because that’s the reason he started playing golf; that’s why I started playing golf.
“So I think the Ryder Cup is first and foremost on my mind. It’s the best marketing tool golf has. One of the biggest sporting events, period, right? So I wouldn’t mind. Sergio and I had a very, very good experience during this last Ryder Cup, and I would especially like to repeat it, no matter where he plays. But I can understand why it would be difficult.
“If it were up to me, I would love to come to a solution so that some of them can play because, as I said earlier, how many Ryder Cups has Sergio played in? Ten? Most points ever won in the Ryder Cup. Westy has also been a part of many of these and many others. I don’t know if it will be possible or not, but I think if there is a way, I would like to see it.
Garcia’s best chance of making the team would be to 1. Play extremely well in the majors (three he is not qualified for) and the DP World Tour events he is allowed to enter. And 2. Win the captain’s pick.
This is why Garcia would have been present asking a Ryder Cup question to Keith Pelley during the players’ only meeting on Tuesday evening. The path to Garcia’s inclusion isn’t exactly straightforward, especially when the UK courts are becoming more involved in just a few months. Until then, many doubts hang in the air. Just enough for everyone to talk about, talk about, talk about.
