Jon Rahm completes LIV Golf switch
Rory McIlroy has come under fire from Ian Poulter and other LIV Golf stars after the world No. 2 took a pop at one-time Ryder Cup skipper Henrik Stenson. The Swede was set to be Europe’s captain at Rome’s Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in September before he was stripped of the role after choosing to join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour in July 2022.
Stenson was replaced by Englishman Luke Donald who successfully guided the hosts to an emphatic 16.5-11.5 victory, ensuring that the Sam Ryder trophy remained on European soil.
But with one of Team Europe’s biggest stars, Jon Rahm, also defecting to LIV Golf last week in a staggering £450m deal, McIlroy has now called for a change to the European rules to allow LIV golfers to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup.
Reacting to McIlroy’s comments and seemingly new position on Ryder Cup eligibility, golf performance coach and pod-caster Lou Stagner wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “I wonder if @McIlroyRory also wants to change the rules so Stenson can captain the team?”
McIlroy responded directly to Stagner and wrote: “The best thing to happen to the 2023 Euro Ryder Cup team was Henrik going to LIV!”
Unsurprisingly, the jibe caused a stir on social media and it wasn’t long before some of LIV’s British players responded.
Ian Poulter sarcastically wrote: “Guys calm down …. This is a parody fake account.. Rory McIlroy wouldn’t say this. it’s fake I promise you. He is a class act and wouldn’t say that about a team mate.”
Englishman Poulter is widely regarded as a hero of the European Ryder Cup team with a playing record that reads 15 wins, eight losses and two halves. But despite appearing in seven previous editions of the prestigious team matchplay event he was ineligible for selection in Rome because he also defected to LIV Golf in 2022.
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Another European star to switch to the breakaway league was Lee Westwood and he also replied to McIlroy’s swipe at Stenson on social media.
Westwood wrote: “I remember my 1st beer!”
Whilst the 2023 European Ryder Cup team did not include any LIV Golfers, either in the playing team or coaching staff, the USA team did include one.
Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka was included in Zach Johnson’s line-up after the American captain revealed that every single one of his automatic qualifiers had requested that Koepka was included as a wildcard pick.
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