LIV trio see no risk to Ryder Cup qualifying

PORTLAND • European Ryder Cup stars Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer insisted on Wednesday that they saw no reason why their jump from the PGA and European Tours to LIV Golf should rule them out of the trans-Atlantic matchplay showdown.

"Why should it be threatened?" said Englishman Westwood, 49, who matched a European record with his 11th Ryder Cup appearance last year, when asked about his future in the biennial event between the United States and Europe.

"As long as you fulfil the criteria to be a European Tour member, then you should still have the opportunity to try and qualify for the Ryder Cup team."

Westwood, Garcia and Kaymer spoke at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon, where the second event in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series began yesterday.

The PGA Tour has suspended all current or former members of the tour who have opted to play in the rebel series, which has sparked criticism because of Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

The European Tour, now known as the DP World Tour, has also fined and banned members who played in the inaugural event in London last month - including Westwood and Garcia - and said that additional punishments could be meted out over subsequent involvement in the series.

Making a Ryder Cup team depends in part on gaining points on either the US or European tour, making it unclear whether players banned over their LIV involvement would be shut out.

England's Ian Poulter and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, both Ryder Cup stalwarts, have also joined LIV and any ban would seriously hurt Europe's competitiveness, arguably more so than the US.

"I hope that I still have the possibility, as I'm sure they do, too, to be a part of a few more Ryder Cup teams, but that's not going to depend on us now," Spain's Garcia, 42, said. "We'll just keep our fingers crossed."

Germany's Kaymer, 37, a former world No. 1 who has not played in the Ryder Cup since 2016, said that even if he never does so again, he did not regret his decision to join the rebel circuit.

"Obviously, we didn't know what the sanctions might come one day, but if you asked me if I would do the same, if I would make the same choice, absolutely, because I do believe in the whole vision that LIV Golf provides for the game of golf and for us players."

But the other established golf circuits have closed ranks, with the PGA of Australia yesterday reaffirming its "full support" of the PGA Tour and European Tour in a rebuke to LIV Golf, headed by the country's greatest golfer Greg Norman, calling their relationship "stronger than ever".

Chief executive Gavin Kirkman said he was working to bring more co-sanctioned events to Australia.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE