Henrik Stenson says he hopes LIV Golf players will have the chance to represent Team Europe in the Ryder Cup in future matches.
The likelihood of any LIV Golf players being in Luke Donald’s thoughts for the 2023 match at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club are all but over, particularly after record Ryder Cup points scorer Sergio Garcia revealed in May that Donald had told him he had “no chance” of making the team.
That came after players including Stenson, Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter had resigned from the DP World Tour, all but ensuring they would have no future in the biennial match.
However, the DP World Tour and PGA Tour’s shock merger with the Saudi Public Investment Fund that finances LIV Golf appears to have left the door ajar for a return at some point.
It's now just over a year since Stenson joined LIV Golf, and this week’s he's playing in the LIV Golf Bedminster tournament, which marked his debut on the circuit. That move to LIV Golf led to him being stripped of the European Ryder Cup captaincy. However, he remains optimistic that he – along with other LIV Golf players – may have some involvement down the line.
He said: “I hope. I hope maybe we can see a different future down the line somewhere, whether that involves me or some of the other guys. It's kind of a lot of speculation, and I'll just - I'll just wait and see what happens. If things change in the future, which I hope they will, we'll see if there's a time and a place for some of us to be involved going forward.”
Despite going from having a pivotal role in this year’s match to having none, Stenson revealed he would still be keeping an eye on events as they unfold.
He said: “Yeah, I'll be - Ryder Cup has been a big part of my career. I've got some of my greatest golfing memories from the Ryder Cup, and a lot of my friendships were built from the Ryder Cup. Yeah, I'll follow. I'm a golf fan, as well, and I'll follow the scores.”
Nevertheless, Stenson admitted he’ll miss being part of the action. He said: “It's a special week. The team room and the team, that's something very special. Yeah, of course it'll be missed, whether it comes from the situation that we found ourselves in or just not being part of it.
“That's kind of - that goes both ways. If you've been part of something and then you're not part of it, there's certain aspects you're going to miss, but I'll follow and obviously support from a distance.”
