LIV golf rebels Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have made it clear they have not given up hope of resuming their Ryder Cup careers.
The pair are ineligible for this year’s transatlantic shootout as things stand having resigned from the DP World Tour. But on their return to the course north of London where the Saudi-backed LIV breakaway tour was born a year ago, Poulter voiced hope that golf’s rapidly-changing landscape would bring with it a change of policy.
"I'd like to hope there could be a role going forward,” he said, standing beside Westwood and Henrik Stenson, stripped of this year’s European team captaincy after also signing for LIV. “The Ryder Cup has been a huge part of my life over the last 20 years. Playing seven, being vice-captain for one.
“It goes without saying how much I've loved playing it and to be in a position we are today where the powers that be are actually trying to work things out is good for golf.”
Poulter refers to the shock merger, announced last month out of the blue, between the PGA and DP World Tours and LIV, with whom they had been at war. Asked whether that should be a game-changer, allowing those sanctioned to be brought in from the cold, Stenson chose a diplomatic tone.
“Instead of dwelling on that too much, let's look ahead to what's ahead of us and what can be,” he said. “It's good for the game that things have calmed down a little bit. Hopefully there will be a better future in that sense.
“We'll see where it takes us. We wish the guys all the best at this point, and hopefully we can all come together going forward.”
There is no sign of change coming ahead of September’s match, the 44th edition, in Rome. But Graeme McDowell, twice a vice-captain, warned European tour chiefs they would look "foolish" if they do not consider the likes of Poulter, Westwood and Sergio Garcia.
"To ignore LIV because of politics when the US have those players in their side doesn't make any sense," McDowell told the BBC. "It makes Europe's tour look foolish.”
Those on parade at the Centurion Club yesterday bore the scars of a bruising year on the front line of public opinion. Although Westwood said he “had not really fallen out with anybody - we all still talk to each other”, Poulter insisted change is needed among golf’s top brass before peace can be declared.
“What’s happened in the last 12 months and the fracturing of the game is not something we ever, ever wanted,” McDowell added.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson agreed: “When you look back at the hostility, yeah, it's sad, especially as a year later everybody is friends again! “I wrote a book about my mental issues, so when that stuff comes out and it comes to your family, your in-laws and the kids, that's hurtful.”
