Ian Poulter's Participation in LIV Golf League Puts His Ryder Cup Dreams in Doubt

ParallelDesk 01:32:02 PM, 27 April 2023

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Professional golfer Ian Poulter has made headlines after he decided to join the Saudi-backed LIV golf league in June 2022. This decision seemed attractive to Poulter due to the league's lucrative rewards, but it has had a considerable impact on his prospects of participating in major tournaments and, more significantly, the prestigious Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup, a biennial event, sees golfers from the United States and Europe compete against each other. The 2023 edition of the event will take place in Rome, Italy, in September, and both teams have already picked their respective captains. Keith Pelley, the CEO of DP World Tour, shared that he would not bar any LIV golfers from getting picked up by Ryder Cup teams, thus granting some hope to Poulter and other LIV golfers. The US team has a sorted qualification process for players from both PGA Tour and LIV Golf leagues. However, things are more complicated for the European team. The captain of the European team has already been announced as former number one player Luke Donald. The European team selects six golfers based on their performance from September 2022 to September 2023, while the captain picks another six players. Unfortunately, neither Poulter nor any other LIV golfer has done anything phenomenal as per the first selection criteria, leaving their only chance of being selected within the realm of captain's picks. Poulter, who had been in line to become the 2025 Ryder Cup captain, is now worried about even making it as a participant. Speaking with media after the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January 2023, Poulter expressed his desire to qualify for the European team but hesitated to put his faith in being the captain's pick. Meanwhile, his chances of ever becoming captain seem doubtful, especially after Henrik Stenson, another LIV golfer, was snubbed from the 2023 tournament and captaincy. Poulter participated in a Q&A session on Instagram in March 2023, where he responded to fan queries about the prospects of any LIV golfer ever becoming a Ryder Cup captain. Poulter said that if the DP World Tour chose not to have any LIV golfer as a captain after supporting them for over 25 years, "then shame on them." Despite this, Poulter remains hopeful and has not given up on his Ryder Cup dreams, saying "If I win these two weeks, who knows?"