Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy hopes European team-mates Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood can still be involved in the Ryder Cup despite opting to take “boatloads of cash” from the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The Northern Irishman’s opposition to the Saudi-backed events has been very public and long-standing and while the breakaway has created some friction with the PGA and DP World Tours the world number eight is hopeful it will not impact the biennial contest with the United States.
“Yes, I think they should be able to (feature in the Ryder Cup). They’ve been such a part of the Ryder Cup and look at the history Poults has at the Ryder Cup,” he said.
“It would be such a shame for him not to be involved going forward.
“It’s hard because they are playing in defiance of the Tour but I think everyone needs to get in a room and figure it out.
“I feel like the professional game was on a nice trajectory where everything was becoming more cohesive and now it’s becoming more fractured again and I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
McIlroy was quick to distance himself from the LIV Golf series, with Hertfordshire’s Centurion Club hosting the inaugural event over the next three days.
But while he did not want to criticise the players involved he believes some have taken a short-term view.
“I think my stance on it has been pretty clear from the start,” he added.
“It’s not something that I want to participate in. I’m certainly not knocking anyone for going. It’s their life, it’s their decision, they can live it the way they want to.
“But for me I want to play on the PGA Tour against the best players in the world.
“We all know why everyone’s playing in London this week, it’s boatloads of cash and it’s money up front and I get it.
“I think they’re thinking very short-term. Some of these guys are younger than me and have their whole careers ahead of them. That’s the thing I don’t get.”
Poulter and Westwood wary of risks
Asked if they were putting future Ryder Cup appearances in jeopardy, Poulter said: “We don’t know. I’d like to think it wouldn’t. It’s an unknown risk, we don’t know how the DP World Tour will view it.”
Westwood added: “It’s something I have to take into account. I’m not sure about the playing days, I’m 50 next April. Captaincy could be in jeopardy as well, but Ian pretty much covered it all.
“What I will say is myself and Ian have been members of the PGA Tour while we’ve been on the European Tour and that’s had no effect in the past on whether people have been captains.
“LIV Golf is another tour so why should it be any different?”
“LIV is there and they’ve made the statement not to try and be a threat to these other tours. I don’t see any reason why all the tours can’t co-exist, they’re not there as a direct threat, although the other tours seem to perceive it that way and not want to work with us.”
Mickelson on PGA Tour involvement
Phil Mickelson has refused to confirm or deny if he has been banned or suspended by the PGA Tour for his involvement in the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Mickelson has not competed since February’s Saudi International, missing the Masters and his title defence in the US PGA Championship following the fallout from his explosive comments about Saudi Arabia and the PGA Tour.
The six-time major winner described the Saudis as “scary m************” and said he was well aware of Saudi Arabia’s “horrible record on human rights” – including the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi – in an interview with the author of an unauthorised biography.
Yet he added that working with the Saudis was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates”’ and also accused the Tour of “obnoxious greed”.
The 51-year-old’s lengthy absence led to speculation that he had been suspended but when asked to comment he said: “I choose not to speak publicly on PGA Tour issues at this time.”
He also declined to confirm if he was receiving USD 200million (£159.5m) to compete in the LIV Golf events, but his answer indicated that the reported amount may well be accurate.
“I feel that contract agreements should be private,” Mickelson added. “Doesn’t seem to be the case, but it should be.”
Who is going to play?
Phil Mickelson will join a 48-man field that also includes two-time major winner Dustin Johnson and former European Ryder Cup stars such as Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer.
Former major winner Louis Oosthuizen is also involved as well as former British Masters champion Richard Bland and PGA Tour veteran Kevin Na, who resigned from that circuit last week.
What is the format?
Individual and team events will run alongside each other across three rounds of golf.
The individual event, which has no cut, will see all 48 players competing in a traditional stroke play format, with the lowest 54-hole total being declared the winner.
Groups will tee off simultaneously on different holes in a 'shotgun' start.
In the four-man team event there will be an LIV appointed team captain who will select three players to join them via a snake draft format.
For the first two rounds, the best two stroke play scores will count for each team. For the third and final round, the best three scores will count, with the lowest overall team score after 54 holes being named the team winner.
How much prize money is up for grabs?
The Centurion tournament boasts a total prize fund of $25 million, with the winner receiving $4m (£3.2m) - considerably more than the $2.7m awarded to Scottie Scheffler for his victory at The Masters, while every player is guaranteed at least $120,000 just for completing 54 holes.
This is the first of eight LIV Golf events scheduled for this year with plans to expand to 14 in the coming years. An Individual Champion will be crowned at the end of those events, with a $30m fund distributed for the top three players of the season, providing they have played in a minimum of four tournaments.
The prize purse doubles for the season finale in Miami and sees $50m allocated between each of the 12 four-man teams. Each player receives a 25 per cent cut of team earnings, with $16m awarded to the winning team and $1million for the team finishing 12th.
What will the sanctions be?
A monetary fine is no deterrent given the amount of money players are receiving simply to take part, not to mention the USD 25million (£19.9million) prize fund in each of the first seven events. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has also pledged to “reimburse” players if they are fined. Banning or suspending players would seem to be the only option, although that would almost certainly lead to a legal challenge as players feel they are “independent contractors” who should be allowed to play where they want.
What about the majors?
The USGA announced on Tuesday that it would not prevent the likes of Mickelson and Johnson from playing in next week’s US Open, saying it would not be “appropriate, nor fair to competitors,” to change the entry criteria once established. The R&A is expected to take the same approach regarding July’s Open Championship, but the USGA statement did not address what may happen in the future and stressed that its decision “should not be construed as the USGA supporting an alternative organizing entity, nor supportive of any individual player actions or comments”.
What about the accusations of sportswashing?
These have dominated the build-up to the series and will not go away once it gets under way, with Amnesty International using the eve of the tournament to renew its call for players to speak out about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, criticised players for “sidestepping the real gravity of Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record”, saying: “Platitudes about golf being a ‘force for change’ mean very little if players are acting as unofficial arms of the Saudi government’s PR machine.”
