[ad_1]
VIRGINIA WATER, England — When Rory McIlroy runs into a few of his former Ryder Cup teammates at Wentworth this week, do not anticipate them to spend a lot time reminiscing about fond reminiscences.
European Ryder Cup stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are among the many contingent of LIV Golf gamers who’re competing on the BMW PGA Championship this week, a lot to the dismay of McIlroy and the others who’ve resisted the monetary good points of becoming a member of the Saudi-backed breakaway collection.
Throughout a forgettable Ryder Cup for Europe final 12 months at Whistling Straits, one of the memorable moments got here when McIlroy broke down in tears when speaking about how a lot he liked his teammates. On Wednesday, he merely sighed when requested how what appeared like a tight-knit bond with Garcia, Westwood and Poulter can survive the fallout from LIV.
“I don’t know,” McIlroy stated. “I would not say I’ve bought a lot of a relationship with them on the minute. … However, like, I have never finished something completely different. They’re those which have made that call. So I can sit right here and preserve my head held excessive and say I have never finished something in another way.”
Shane Lowry additionally stated there may very well be some awkward conferences this week with gamers he was “good pals” with.
“Clearly I have never seen them in a very long time now. Do not hang around with them anymore,” Lowry stated. “In all probability will not be going out for dinner as a result of we have not seen one another. However yeah, there are specific lads that I shake palms with and sure palms I would not.”
So the rift between gamers created by LIV reveals no signal of therapeutic at Wentworth, the place Billy Horschel and Jon Rahm each took goal on the LIV contingent on Tuesday.
The LIV golfers who’re European Tour members are allowed to play at Wentworth whereas their suspension for enjoying within the inaugural occasion of the breakaway collection is underneath attraction. Their Ryder Cup standing can be topic to authorized appeals.
U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick stated he was “fed up with speaking about” the entire state of affairs, however acknowledged that the present tensions might make it tough to incorporate any LIV gamers on subsequent 12 months’s Ryder Cup crew.
“There’s one particular person I’d have, who I’d be fantastic with taking part in with and have on the crew,” Fitzpatrick stated, declining to call the participant. “However , subsequent 12 months is clearly a great distance away, and there is lots of stuff to come back with the entire state of affairs. So which may change issues, change attitudes much more, after which that most likely makes it tough.”
The European Ryder Cup crew for subsequent 12 months was already affected by LIV Golf when Henrik Stenson was stripped of the captaincy for becoming a member of the breakaway collection. When the Swede’s title got here up on the finish of McIlroy’s information convention as the one particular person to win each the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai – a feat the Northern Irishman is making an attempt to equal – McIlroy simply quipped: “Who?”
McIlroy had stated earlier than the occasion that it could be “exhausting to abdomen” taking part in alongside the LIV golfers this week, however stated he had but to see most of them at Wentworth.
“My opinion is that they should not be right here, however once more that is simply my opinion,” McIlroy stated, earlier than taking a jab at LIV Golf’s format of solely taking part in three rounds as an alternative of 4 and beginning on completely different holes. “However we’re all going to tee it up on the primary tee tomorrow and we’re all going to go play 72 holes, which is a novelty for them at this level, after which we’ll go from there.”
McIlroy stated he stayed away from a gamers’ assembly with European Tour chief government Keith Pelley on Tuesday night that included golfers from each factions.
“It wasn’t actually a state of affairs I needed to get myself in realizing who was going to be in that room,” McIlroy stated. “So I form of eliminated myself from it and allow them to thrash it out.”
Pelley gave no particulars of what was stated on the assembly at his personal information convention, saying it was “very quick and there have been a few questions from LIV gamers that I feel we answered.”
Pelley additionally launched a staunch protection of the monetary viability of the European Tour – not too long ago rebranded because the DP World Tour – and its potential to compete commercially.
“It’s straightforward to get dragged down by the LIV propaganda machine, churning out damaging information tales and misinformation in regards to the poor state of the normal {golfing} world, together with our tour,” Pelley stated. “It is simply not proper.”
McIlroy, Fitzpatrick and Horschel all play in the identical group on Thursday so they will not must share the course with any LIV gamers till the weekend at the least.
When requested if it could give him added motivation to play within the last pairing on Sunday alongside a participant who joined the Saudi-backed collection, McIlroy could not resist yet another jibe.
“They will be fairly drained on Sunday,” he stated, “will probably be the fourth day.”
Source link
