Ian Poulter has said if Ryder Cup Europe chose not to have a LIV Golf player as captain then “shame on them” after answering fan questions on Instagram.
The Englishman was expected to be European captain for the 2025 match at Bethpage Black in New York, but his future captaincy days seem numbered following Henrik Stenson’s removal as 2023 skipper.
Poulter was asked if he thinks LIV Golf will last, with the fan saying they were “gutted” that the seven-time Ryder Cupper probably won’t get a chance to captain Europe.
“LIV Golf League is here to stay it’s only 30 rounds old,” Poulter wrote on Instagram. “And every start up business takes time. I’m so proud to see how far it’s come in such a short space of time. It’s an incredible business and product and it will be incredible.
“And if the DP World Tour chose not to have any LIV golfer as captain after they have supported them and still do for over 25 years then shame on them. Sad but that’s on them. Time will tell and once all the info is out things will change I’m sure.”
Poulter’s DP World Tour and Ryder Cup future is set to be decided soon when a verdict from the recent arbitration panel hearing is announced.
The decision is expected some time between April and June, relating to whether the DP World Tour could ban and fine players for going against declined release requests to play in the LIV Golf opener last year.
OTHER POTENTIAL FUTURE RYDER CUP CAPTAINS:
Graeme McDowell recently told Golf by Tour Miss that he would be “very disappointed” not to be a future Ryder Cup captain or vice-captain but says he has “accepted” the fact that his chances are likely gone. The Northern Irishman was a likely candidate for the 2027 match at Adare Manor.
Another guaranteed future captain who has joined LIV Golf is Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard, who is the Ryder Cup’s record points scorer, has had a public fallout with Rory McIlroy, whom he said was “lacking maturity”, and it seems he will never appear in the biennial match again.
Garcia told Marca in December that some Europeans have shown a lack of class.
“Because if there are three or four who if I’m there will be looking at me badly and don’t want me there … What do I bring to the team?,” he said on the Ryder Cup. “I really want to be there to be me, to be the Sergio who plays the Ryder, who loves and who puts an arm over everyone’s shoulder to help.
“And if then you have people there who because you have decided to go to another Tour you are no longer their friend, you are the bad one, you are the one such or that, that has disappointed me and has taught me that really those people who thought they were friends of mine are not.
“John [Rahm] is not one of them, but there are others who have shown very little class.”