Ian Poulter has been frozen out of the European Ryder Cup since resigning his DP World Tour membership, but the LIV golfer still has hopes of one day returning as captain
Ian Poulter has declared his dream of returning to the Ryder Cup fold to captain the European team, leading to a unanimous reaction from his former teammates have had their say.
Having joined LIV Golf, Poulter was punished by the DP World Tour via fines and suspensions for competing in ‘conflicting’ events on the breakaway circuit. Having been handed his sanctions last April, Poulter opted to resign from the Wentworth-based circuit, alongside the likes of Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood.
This did however bring an end to Poulter’s remarkable Ryder Cup career, where the Englishman established himself as one the event’s great players whilst representing Europe against their American rivals.
Poulter – who had been tipped as a shoo-in to one day captain the Europeans – had previously admitted he felt his future at the event was over. With talks of a peace deal between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour with the LIV setup gaining momentum in recent weeks, it appears the Englishman has had a change of heart about one day returning.
“It’s been a huge part of my golfing life, some of the proudest moments of my career,” Poulter told Al Arabiya English of the Ryder Cup. “I’m hopeful one day there’s a sense of coming together that would enable the likes of myself… the opportunity to be able to become captain.
“Let’s see what happens, there’s going to need to be some compromise. I’m hopeful one day we’ll see it.” In the aftermath of Poulter’s comments, a trio of Team Europe players who won the Ryder Cup for their continent in Rome last October have had their say on a potential return for ‘The Postman’.
Justin Rose
The first to have his say at this week’s BMW PGA Championship was one of Poulter’s long-time teammates in Justin Rose, who did not rule out a return for the LIV Golf star if things within the game begin to change. “I think the world of golf does need to start resolving itself quickly,” he claimed.
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“There is still a little bit of a divide between us and them. I think it’s hard to make those admissions back into the fray unless we’re all on the same path pretty quickly. I think for that to happen for Poults [becoming Ryder Cup captain], I can definitely see that pathway.”
Rory McIlroy
Unsurprisingly the question was posed to Rory McIlroy during his pre-tournament press conference at Wentworth, but unlike Rose, he was less convinced about a potential captaincy for Poulter and his LIV teammate Lee Westwood. “I think it’s hard because we don’t really see them anymore,” McIlroy claimed.
“I’m not sure if Poults gave up his European Tour Membership. You need someone around that’s comfortable. You look at what Luke [Donald] has done the last few years, he’s really made an effort to come over… 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.
“With the guys that left, Poulter, Westwood, how can these young up and comers build a rapport with them when they are never here? You can’t see them. I think that’s a really important part of a Ryder Cup and a Ryder Cup captaincy. “I’m not saying that Poulter doesn’t have the credentials to be a Ryder Cup Captain, but 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. Right now, that honestly just can’t be them because they are elsewhere.”
Tommy Fleetwood
One man who has become a mainstay in the European setup in recent years is Tommy Fleetwood, and whilst he played down the importance of his Ryder Cup opinion, he addressed the comments made by McIlroy in regard to Poulter’s ongoing absence from the DP World Tour. “I don’t know if I’ve got the experienced sort of to say what would work and what wouldn’t work,” he said. “But for sure, I think time moves fast and different people come through.
“I think it is important for the captain to have a great connection with the players for sure. Who knows, you know, in the future and what a team of players looks like and who that captain can be or will be. It’s a difficult one, isn’t it. Because I think there’s clearly a few guys, like obvious names that have been such a huge part of Team Europe, and you can’t take away what they have done for Team Europe over that period of time and the success that they have had.
“But yeah, who knows what will happen in the future. Sure, I feel like with the last Ryder Cup, Luke was definitely the right call, and you saw how much anybody that was part of that team knew that — not even just emotionally, but the right thing, it felt like, for Luke to carry on.”
