The prospects for future European Ryder Cup teams took a hit on both the player and captain side this week.
For a player or captain to be eligible to represent Europe, they must be a DP World Tour member. Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood resigned their memberships on Wednesday, and while all three may have been fringe players for the 2023 event in Italy, the trio were sure-fire future captains given their respective history at the biennial bash against the Americans.
Garcia leads the European side in total points scored (28.5) and boasts an impressive 25-13-7 record, while Westwood is the most capped player with 11 appearances and is tied for the third-most points scored (24) with Bernhard Langer. Poulter has been a chest-thumping thorn in the Americans’ side with his 15–8–2 record, 6-0-1 in singles.
MORE: McIlroy responds to Ryder Cup stars resigning from DP World Tour
While a player who has resigned membership could hypothetically request to rejoin the tour the following year if they still remain eligible in terms of an exempt category, each individual case would vary and be subject to any further sanctions which may be imposed for subsequent breaches of the Conflicting Tournament Regulation, as alluded to in a DP World Tour statement this week.
With players who made the move to LIV Golf seemingly out of the picture for the near future, here’s a look at some potential future European Ryder Cup captains, including a few new names and some old blood.
We’ll start with the extreme because desperate times call for desperate measures. McIlroy (12-12-4 in six appearances) has been the face of Team Europe and carries a lot of sway with the Blue and Gold. As the new world No. 1, Rahm (4-3-1 in two caps) continues to see his status in the game rise week after week.
Whether its recency bias or a notable momentum shift, the U.S. has won two of the last three events and on paper seem poised to earn their first win on foreign soil since 1993 later this fall. Tiger Woods was a playing captain for the U.S. Presidents Cup team in 2019 in Australia, but the Ryder Cup hasn’t featured a playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
The Europeans have never used a playing captain, but given the current state of affairs, why not entrust the squad to one of the two most important players not only on the continent, but in the game?
Rory McIlroy chats with Jon Rahm ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 26, 2018 in…
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