Rory McIlroy has softened his stance when it comes to LIV Golf, but it appears reluctant to have the likes of Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood as Ryder Cup captains
Rory McIlroy played down the idea of LIV Golf duo Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter making a return to the European Ryder Cup setup as future captains.
McIlroy had been a previous teammate of Westwood and Poulter on the Ryder Cup stage, but have been left split ever since the emergence of the LIV setup in 2022. On the back of their move, both Westwood and Poulter resigned their DP World Tour memberships, thus making them ineligible to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup.
In recent weeks however, talk of reunification between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour with their LIV rivaly saw McIlroy asked if he felt there was a future for Westwood and Poulter as future captains. Speaking at the Genesis Invitational, he replied: “I would have to be convinced.”
The Northern Irishman then admitted he would need to see the commitment shown by current captain Luke Donald from the LIV duo for him to be happy with the idea of leading the European team.
“It would take them treating it as if Luke Donald’s treated it for the last three years, that’s what it would take to convince me.” McIlroy was then quizzed on Westwood and Poulter being unable to have the same access as Donald in recent years due to their LIV loyalties.
The four-time major champion however believes they only have themselves to blame. “They gave up their European Tour membership, right?” the 35-year-old commented. “Other guys have access to the DP World Tour, Tyrrell [Hatton], Jon [Rahm], they have access.”
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McIlroy has been a long-time critic of the LIV setup, but has softened his stance on the league over the past year, as an agreement between the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and the PGA Tour grows closer. As part of a deal, the Northern Irishman now believes there is a path back for the likes of Bryson DeChambeau onto the PGA Tour.
“I’ve been on the record saying this a lot, like we’re playing for a $20 million prize fund this week. That would have never happened if LIV hadn’t have come around,” he said at Torrey Pines. “If people are butt-hurt or have their feelings hurt because guys went or whatever, like who cares?
“Let’s move forward together and let’s just try to get this thing going again and do what’s best for the game… There are guys that were on the PGA Tour that went to play on LIV and if they still have status, sure, come back, come back and play. Having Bryson DeChambeau come back and play on this tour is good.”