|
Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood,
who have played 28 Ryder Cups between them and are now with the
LIV Series, are ineligible for this year's edition of the
biennial competition after resigning from the DP World Tour in
May.
However, American players who joined the LIV circuit can still
qualify for the U.S. team given they are members of the PGA of
America.
"To ignore LIV because of politics when the U.S. have those
players in their side doesn't make any sense," former Europe
vice-captain McDowell, who plays for the Saudi-backed circuit,
told the BBC. "It makes Europe's tour look foolish.
"I hope that if one of the European players at LIV puts in a
summer deserving of a spot on the Ryder Cup side that the
landscape would be available for that to happen."
The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and rival LIV circuit, which had
been involved in a bitter fight that split the sport, announced
an agreement in early June to merge and form a unified
commercial entity.
Northern Ireland's McDowell, who was on the winning team in
three of his four Ryder Cup appearances, also called for
Europe's all-time record points scorer Garcia to be reinstated.
"I think Sergio Garcia is probably the lead guy right now and
the European team room would be better with a Sergio Garcia in
it," McDowell said.
"I read the stuff with him and Rory McIlroy (resolving their
differences) and I'm super happy that those guys have moved on
from stuff that shouldn't have come between them - politics and
business.
"I'd love to see them walking down a fairway in Rome, winning a
foursomes match together. I think that's what every European
Ryder Cup fan wants."
The Ryder Cup runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at the Marco Simone
Golf and Country Club near Rome.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
