Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald ‘Watches’ LIV Golf Players

[ad_1]

Team Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald refused to write off the LIV Golf players’ chances of competing in this year’s tournament, but admitted there could be issues between some of the players.

Donald was paired with counterpart, Team USA captain Zach Johnson, for the first two rounds of this week’s Honda Classic. However, while Donald’s focus was on the PGA National tournament, where he missed the cut, he was inevitably asked about the event coming up seven months later at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.

Per Golfweek (opens in new tab), Donald admits that LIV Golf players can still make it to his team through one of the six qualifying spots. However, he admitted that potential bad blood between LIV Golf players and others could be a sticking point.

He said: “If we come to the point where someone is qualified from LIV and there are disagreements between the players, we need to know this before. My job as captain is to create a good culture for team to be successful. Whatever that may be, whoever the 12 guys are, that’s my job.”

There have been signs in recent days that this may be a real issue, with LIV Golf Ryder Cup legend Sergio Garcia accusing a shoo-in for the team, Rory McIlroy, of lacking maturity in feud that ended their friendship.

Regardless, Donald insists that, for now, his final selection is not at the forefront of his mind, and that players accumulating Ryder Cup points are his biggest concern. He said: “All I can do is stay in the present moment and face whatever comes my way. I don’t look too far ahead. Right now, I’m concentrating more on those who make points week in, week out.”

Donald refused to write off the possibility of LIV Golf players entering his mind, though. He said: “Those guys at LIV… I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on those too. My focus is on people who are committed to trying to make the team.

Donald previously hinted that the LIV Golf stars’ Ryder Cup days are over. However, with legends of the biennial competition, including Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Garcia playing for LIV Golf, there is certainly plenty of talent on the circuit that he can still go to.

As for Johnson, he insisted it was a discussion for another time. He said: “I’m not worried about it at the moment, to be honest. There is still a lot of fluidity and uncertainty involved.”

Ryder Cup captains Zach Johnson and Luke Donald are in the same group for the first two rounds of the Honda Classic

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While Johnson refuses to be drawn on the issue, he has in the past appeared to draw a line under the possibility of LIV Golf players joining his team. At the John Deere Classic last June, he gave them a shot, saying: “So what I know is this: to play on the Ryder Cup team whether you’re top 6 or a pick, you have to earn Ryder points Cup through the PGA of America To earn Ryder Cup points through the PGA of America you must be a member of the PGA of America.

“The way we are members of the PGA of America is through the PGA Tour. I’ll let you connect the dots from there.”

[ad_2]