Team Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will make his first PGA Tour start since last August’s Wyndham Championship at this week’s WM Phoenix Open.
Prior to the tournament, Donald answered some questions. However, his most high-profile stories were about LIV Golf and the Ryder Cup.
Donald took it upon himself to set the record straight and set Rory McIlroy straight.
“he [McIlroy] It was a bit imprecise in terms of changing the rules for John to participate. Because he is now European and must be a member of the DP World Tour,” Donald said. “John and Tyrrell [Hatton]As far as I know, they are still members of the European Tour and will be eligible to play. Nothing has changed there. ”
Following the shocking news that Jon Rahm was leaving the PGA Tour for LIV, McIlroy famously said the rules needed to be changed to allow LIV members to play in the Ryder Cup.
Donald further elaborated on his opinion on the qualifications of LIV membership.
Photo credit: Maddie Meyer/PGA of America/PGA of America (via Getty Images)
“Going back to last year, we had several players who maintained their membership and played in LIV, so I was keeping an eye on all the players who were eligible to be selected,” he said. “We couldn’t pick the players who decided to leave at that point, but that’s the rule at the moment.”
He said he hopes Rahm and Hatton will still be considered as they likely still want to be part of the team.
Donald also did not shut down the issue of the LIV golfer serving as assistant captain for the Ryder Cup.
He has already named Edoardo Molinari his assistant captain for 2025, but there are probably still spots available for one or more members of LIV Golf.
“That’s always a possibility. I think the vice-captains I appointed last year were very in touch with a lot of the players who were eligible,” Donald said. “Once again, Sergios [Garcia]leeds [Westwood]Ians [Poulter], they have a legend and a history and a piece of the Ryder Cup. ”
He admitted that it could be difficult to evaluate vice-captains as they need to build good relationships with the players.
“We didn’t have anyone in LIV for the 2023 Ryder Cup, so we need to see if that relationship is good enough,” he said.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
