Rory McIlroy has stated that Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, who joined LIV Golf and subsequently resigned from the DP World Tour, are too disconnected from the current European players to be considered for future Ryder Cup captaincy roles.
Poulter and Westwood left the DP World Tour last year to avoid fines related to their move to LIV Golf. Despite this, Poulter expressed hope in an interview with Al Arabiya English that he might captain Europe in the future.
McIlroy, a prominent critic of LIV Golf, believes that the absence of Poulter and Westwood from the European Tour, following a contentious departure, makes it unlikely for them to be future captains. “I just think with the current state of where everything is, you need someone that’s around and showing their face as much as they can,” McIlroy said. “Right now, that honestly just can’t be them because they are elsewhere.”
The emergence of LIV Golf, financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) with $2 billion (£1.6 billion), has caused significant division in men’s professional golf. In June 2023, the PGA and DP World Tours announced a ‘framework agreement’ to merge with PIF, but a final agreement to resolve golf’s ongoing disputes has not yet been reached.
Poulter, 48, has been part of five Ryder Cup-winning teams and played a crucial role in the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2010. Westwood, 51, has participated in 11 Ryder Cups, tying a European record with Bernhard Langer, and has also expressed interest in captaining the team. Both players switched to LIV Golf in 2022.
McIlroy highlighted the efforts of current captain Luke Donald to remain engaged with the European Tour and its players as an example of what Poulter and Westwood would need to do to be considered. “You look at what Luke has done the last few years – he’s really made an effort to come over [from the United States]. He played [on the European Tour] in the Czech Republic. He was in Switzerland,” McIlroy said. “He’s making an effort to be around the players and make the players feel comfortable with him – the up-and-comers that haven’t had a chance yet to be on a team or trying to make a team.”
McIlroy is preparing for the PGA Championship at Wentworth this week. He was recently defeated at the Irish Open by Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard, who overcame a four-shot deficit to win by one shot in a dramatic final round at Royal County Down. McIlroy, who led the tournament early but dropped shots at 15 and 17, downplayed the impact of the loss. “I think there may be a misconception that it hit me harder than it maybe did,” McIlroy said. “You know, I didn’t really feel like I necessarily lost the tournament. I felt like Rasmus went out and won it. Obviously I’m trying to look for the positives in all of it but I’m happy to be here. There are not many better places to be.”
