When players are forced to fly through traditional carriers, they can suffer the same consequences as everyone else.
This week marks the first LIV Golf event in the state of Texas as play begins at the Golf Club of Houston on Friday.
And while much was made during the circuit’s debut season about a lavish plane provided by the league’s overlords, when players are forced to fly through traditional carriers they can suffer the same consequences as everyone else.
For example, take the social media fun that Ian Poulter dropped on Instagram Tuesday after a few players apparently weren’t accompanied by their golf clubs during a flight from London’s Heathrow Airport to the Golf of Mexico.
Poulter, who leads Majesticks GC, was seen laughing about the mishap and asking Tyrrell Hatton, who plays for Legion XIII, if he knew where his golf clubs were. Clearly, the 32-year-old Englishman did not.
“There’s no question: if you cut me in half, it bleeds Ryder Cup, right?”
Don’t expect Ian Poulter to be a part of any future Ryder Cups.
A stalwart on the European Team that has won the biennial match five times, Poulter has a record of 15-8-2, including an undefeated mark in Sunday Singles.
He’s one of the most fiery competitors in the history of the event, and he was a shoo-in to be a future European captain. That was, until he left to join LIV Golf in 2022.
Now, it seems as if he won’t be involved in the Ryder Cup whatsoever moving forward.
“Too much happened last time,” Poulter told Gulf News. “Too much was said, and that’s extremely disappointing from my perspective with the way certain people were treated and spoken about with reference to the Ryder Cup, especially when certain people have committed a lot of their life to work extremely hard for that product.
“So, the way it stands right now, with the current people that run that level of the organization, things would have to change for me to be involved. That’s from an everything perspective, I’m not needed, they didn’t need me last time.”
Ultimately, longtime members of the European team like Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell weren’t needed last year, as the Europeans beat the Americans at Marco Simone in Rome. Luke Donald, who replaced Henrik Stenson as captain when the latter also went to LIV Golf, did such a good job, he has been tabbed as captain for 2025 at Bethpage Black.
Many players who left LIV Golf resigned their membership on the DP World Tour, a requirement to be on the European Ryder Cup team. While players like Garcia said they’d be interested in rejoining the DP World Tour to try to get back into the Ryder Cup fold in the future, others like Poulter are waving goodbye.
Poulter understands his playing days at the Ryder Cup are done, but he could still have a role as captain or vice captain.
However, it seems that won’t happen, considering the landscape of professional golf and the things that would have to happen to mend relationships that have been severed.
“When you’ve given and committed so much of your career to want to be with a certain group of individuals, no matter what is said, good or bad, they will always be your teammates,” Poulter said. “I might not agree with some of the stuff they’ve said, and that would need to be aired and bridges rebuilt. But again, they didn’t miss us, they told us we weren’t missed and that’s OK.
“There’s no question: if you cut me in half, it bleeds Ryder Cup, right? But I also have my own self dignity and respect in there to not allow people to say certain stuff and disrespect you.”
Poulter and Horschel traded some online barbs about swing speeds and LIV money.
The latest exchange of digital barbs between two long-time antagonists has led to Ian Poulter claiming Billy Horschel asked for $45 million to join LIV Golf.
It started out as a social-media post from Poulter about swing speeds. Horschel couldn’t resist calling B.S., writing on X that Poulter was “one of those guys that over exaggerate their club head speed.”
A chart that Horschel posted showed Poulter’s swing speed at 110 mph but Poulter responded that the numbers were wrong, that his swing speed is 115 mph.
😂😂😂 This is so funny. My own swing speed is 115MPH I carry it 290-295 Yards. So unless these Yardages are set from landing on a Runway or up Mount Everest they’re all wrong. All numbers given should be carry and also launch conditions need to be stated. 👍🏼💪🏼🚀
That led to a further discussion of numbers with Poulter making the claim that Horschel had asked for nearly $50 million to join LIV Golf, the upstart rival league led by Greg Norman and financially backed by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund.
It’s alright Billy… I’m normally ok with numbers.. So I got it wrong by about $9 Million per MPH difference that you asked for to come join LIV. What’s a few numbers between friends. 😉😜🤷🏼♂️😘 https://t.co/HwM65rffpZ
Poulter ended his post with: “What’s a few numbers between friends.”
The duo were teammates nearly a decade ago when they tied for third at the Franklin Templeton Shootout, an old silly season event that preceded the QBE Shootout, which was replaced by the mixed-team Grant Thornton Invitational this year.
Poulter joined LIV before its first event in June of 2022. He reportedly received about $20 million to join the circuit.
“It’s a blatant fop to Tiger and Rory to keep them onside and earn them millions.”
Editor’s note: This story incorrectly named Ian Poulter for a quote that went unnamed in the original Telegraph story.
For a league that has struggled to stir up organic attention throughout its second season, LIV Golf has been letting its players try to make headlines this week at its season finale in Miami.
The LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump National Doral will be the final chapter of the Saudi Arabia-backed league’s sophomore campaign, and LIV players have been an open book — an eclipse-esc rarity—this week.
Phil Mickelson, who has just one top-10 finish in 13 LIV starts this year (remember, the fields only consist of 48 players), claimed that he “knows” more PGA Tour professionals will jump ship for the Greg Norman-led circuit.
“Do I think that? No, I know that’s going to happen,” Mickelson said Wednesday when asked whether he expects another movement of players. “When players look at LIV, they want to be a part of it. Everybody here is happy and enjoying what they’re doing and enjoying the team aspect of it. Enjoying each other and the camaraderie, and enjoying bringing golf globally and all that comes with playing this tour.
“So there’s a lot of players that see that and want to be a part of it. The question is how many spots are available? There’s a lot more players that want to come than have spots.”
Then, Bubba Watson claimed that there is incredible interest from outsiders to buy the RangeGoats GC, the LIV team he captains.
“Anywhere from 10 to 20 people have asked to buy the RangeGoats. There was three in Singapore, and then after Singapore the floodgates opened, there was even more,” he said. “There’s been talk this week. I met with people this week. Yeah, there’s quite a few.”
And now, other players have come out swinging at Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and the tech-infused league the two major championship winners are launching in January 2024, the TGL.
“Everyone – big businesses, celebrities, sports stars – suddenly want to get in with team sports,” Ian Poulter told The Telegraph. “Look at Wrexham [Football Club] with those Hollywood actors and other superstars at other teams, clubs and franchises.”
“It’s a blatant fop to Tiger and Rory to keep them onside and earn them millions of guess what, ‘guaranteed money,'” said an unnamed player.
“Suddenly” is quite the word choice to describe celebrities and sports stars’ interest in ownership and team sports. It’s been happening for years. Michael Jordan bought the Charlotte Hornets in 2010. Serena and Venus Williams bought a stake in the Miami Dolphins in 2009. Lebron James invested in Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC) in 2011.
Not exactly a new trend.
And for the record, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham almost three years ago.
“Look at the news in F1 (with McIlroy joining the likes of Anthony Johsua and Trent Alexander Arnold investing in the Alpine team). It’s not just the potential profit margin, it’s being involved and the fun to be had. It’s a win, win. Everyone wants a bit and I think LIV has been a leader in this, yeah. Definitely in golf.”
Poulter and teammate Lee Westwood face off against Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz of Fireballs GC in the quarterfinals Friday.
“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around.”
ROME — How does Rory McIlroy feel about a Ryder Cup without Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, among others?
“It’s certainly a little strange not having them around,” he said on Wednesday during his pre-Ryder Cup press conference.
Garcia, Poulter and Westwood have been stalwarts of the European side, with Poulter and Garcia the heart and soul of the team. While they likely wouldn’t have qualified for the team or even garnered a captain’s pick given the current state of their games, they likely would have been involved in the backroom as a vice captain or in some capacity had they not defected to LIV Golf and renounced their DP World Tour membership, which made them ineligible for the Ryder Cup team. McIlroy mused the consequences of their decision to jump ship for the riches of LIV would be most apparent this week.
“I think this week of all weeks, it’s going to hit home with them that, you know, they are not here, and I think they are going to miss being here more than we’re missing them,” he said. “It’s just more I think this week is a realization that the decision that they made has led to not being a part of this week, and that’s tough. The landscape in golf is ever-changing and more dynamic, and we’ll see what happens and whether they will be part of it in the future.”
He added: “This is a bit of a transitional period for the European Team and there’s people that have been part of the European Team for a long time that aren’t here this week. But I think the guys that we brought in are going to be awesome. Nicolai (Hojgaard), Ludvig (Aberg), Bob (McIntyre), that’s the future of our team and the future of the Ryder Cup.”
Rory McIlroy of Team Europe tees off on the 11th hole during a practice round prior to the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
But McIlroy’s Euro teammate, Jon Rahm of Spain, said he reached out to some of the old guard, including Poulter and Garcia, who teamed with Rahm to great effect as one of the few bright spots for the Euros at Whistling Straits in 2021.
“I did have a little bit of a chat with him, and with Poulter, as well,” Rahm said. “Not that it’s going to be easy to take on the role that those two had both on and off the golf course, but just to hear them talk about what they thought and what they felt is obviously invaluable information.”
While the Euro side has lost a great deal of veteran leadership – Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson deserve mention too – McIlroy contends the void will be filled and the European scouting trip to Marco Simone before the BMW Championship earlier this month laid the foundation for team unity.
“I couldn’t believe that we’ve never done it before,” McIlroy said. “We played a practice round and we got familiar with the golf course but then the sort of time we spent off the course I thought was great. Just sort of sharing stories around the fire pit and sort of describing our journeys in golf and what the Ryder Cup means to us. Sort of just getting to know one another a little better, even people that I thought that I knew for a long time, sort of getting to know them a little better, too, was wonderful.”
McIlroy also shared what he told the younger players about his role in the team room and mentoring the newcomers.
“I don’t want anyone looking up to me,” he said. “I just want everyone looking at the side. I want them looking over to me. I don’t want them looking up to me in any way. I want them to see me like I’m on their level. And there’s no hierarchy on our team. It’s we are all one part of a 12-man team and we all go forward together. I guess that’s the one message I’ve tried to relay to some of the younger guys on the team.”
McIlroy credited Euro captain Luke Donald with setting a proper mood for the team.
“I think Luke and his vice captains have really sort of tapped into that emotional connection around Team Europe this week, and we have all bought into it,” he said. “It’s been an amazing experience so far, and it’s only Wednesday. There’s a lot of great things to come. But couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the team, and to have those other 11 guys be my teammates.”
Former European Ryder Cup stalwart Paul Casey won’t be involved in this year’s match in Rome largely because he jumped to LIV Golf, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care anymore about the competition that he played in five times.
Speaking to Golf Digest’s John Huggan recently, Casey opened up on his feelings about this year’s Ryder Cup, which will be held in Rome from Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
The entire article is worth your time, but here are some highlights, starting with touting Padraig Harrington as the best captain he played under despite Harrington’s team suffering a 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits two years ago:
“I’ll tell you how good a captain Padraig was,” Casey said. “The caddies bought him a watch. They all got together, bought him a Rolex and brought him to tears when they presented it to him in Dubai, a few weeks after the matches. That said so much. Caddies normally don’t like dipping their hands in their pockets for players. But it was actually the flip side of what was going to happen if we won. Padraig was going to buy every caddie a watch. He was so highly respected.”
Casey concedes some of the Euro stars of the past might not have qualified for the team this year even if LIV players were eligible, but their absences will be missed in other ways.
“I would still have [Ian Poulter] be involved. That’s what is going to be missing in Rome, guys like Poulter and [Lee] Westwood in the locker room. I’ve been in those locker rooms. The pundits and the commentators have not.”
Paul Casey of the European Team celebrates holing a long birdie putt to win the second hole in his match against Brooks Koepka of the United States Team during singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 30, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Casey hopes as the divisiveness in golf is repaired, the Euro LIV players can be brought back into the fold.
“The Ryder Cup is so valuable in terms of what it gives to golf in Europe, not just monetarily. We don’t want that to be damaged any more than it has been already. I don’t watch a lot of golf outside of the majors. But I will certainly watch the Ryder Cup. And I might just have a piece of Euro team clothing on under my top. I won’t have the commentary on though,” he said with a laugh.
Casey said he has no regrets about his move to LIV.
“Moving to LIV has changed me for the better as a person” he says. “I was probably in a spiral before, and not in a good way. There are so many things people don’t necessarily want to hear from pro golfers. Whatever the sport. But I was trying to play multiple tours. Then there were team matches and the Olympics and all the rest of it. It was taking its toll. Look, I still want to do what I do. But something had to give. I just don’t want to do it all as often.”
“It’s exciting just to be a part of something new.”
There has been no shortage of drama, excitement, storylines and plenty more since LIV Golf made its debut last June at Centurion Club in London.
Players choosing to stay on the PGA Tour or go to LIV Golf. Some taking jabs at one another, back and forth. Numerous legal battles. Seemingly every day, there was something newsworthy related to LIV Golf and its attempt to thrust itself into the golf ecosystem.
This week, LIV Golf returned to Centurion Club, where 2023 LIV Golf London begins Friday. It’s the return to the place where LIV Golf began, and it’s the first time LIV has played a course twice.
Last season, it was the first of eight events. This year, it’s the ninth of 14. Although the future of LIV Golf is up in the air since the announcement of the agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV, players and executives are marching forward as if the circuit will continue.
Only time will tell.
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There are 23 golfers in the field this week who participated in the first LIV event last year. Some of those players and others reflected on the first year of LIV Golf ahead of kicking off Friday’s event in London. Here’s what they had to say.
As uncertainty swirls around the future of LIV Golf amid the news of a partnership between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to create a new global golf entity, one team is moving ahead like it’s business as usual.
On Wednesday morning Majesticks GC named OKX, a crypto exchange company, as its first global sponsor. The Majesticks are three-way captained by Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson, with Sam Horsfield and Laurie Canter (a temporary injury replacement for Horsfield) filling out the roster. The OKX logo will feature on team uniforms.
“Having been an OKX Ambassador, I know that the company brings passion, technological expertise and creative thinking to everything it does,” said Poulter. “We both have ambitions not only to win but to challenge the status quo.”
The sponsorship is OKX’s latest venture in the sports world after previous partnerships with the McLaren Formula 1 Team, as well as English Premier League giants Manchester City. OKX is not available in the United States due to regulatory and compliance reasons and the press release came with a lengthy disclaimer warning about the high degree of risk that comes with trading digital assets.
With a global sponsor and team principal already in place, the Majesticks are furthest along with regard to team development compared to the other 11 squads in the league. LIV Golf will return to action next week, June 30-July 2, at Real Club Valderrama in Spain.
“Their resignations … are a consequence of their own choices.”
Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland have officially resigned from the DP World Tour, according to a news release from the European circuit.
The players “were sanctioned for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation committed last June,” according to the release.
“The DP World Tour would like to take this opportunity to thank the four players for the contribution they have made to the Tour and in particular to Sergio, Ian and Lee for the significant part they have played in Europe’s success in the Ryder Cup over many years.
“Their resignations, however, along with the sanctions imposed upon them, are a consequence of their own choices.
“As we have consistently maintained throughout the past year, the Tour has a responsibility to its entire membership to administer the member regulations which each player signs up to. These regulations are in place to protect the collective interests of all DP World Tour members.”
On April 6, an independent United Kingdom-based panel, Sports Resolutions, ruled in favor of the DP World Tour to be able to fine and suspend LIV Golf players who played in conflicting events without permission.
Members of the DP World Tour who played in Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf’s opening tournament last June in London asked for a conflicting event exemption, but the DP World Tour denied the request. Those players received three-event bans and fines.
For many LIV members, participating in DP World Tour events was one of the few ways they could earn world ranking points.
For a player to be eligible to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup, they need to be a member of the DP World Tour.
The rosters are slowly but surely becoming official for the 2023 LIV Golf League.
The first two in the next crop of players to leave the PGA Tour for the LIV Golf League are now official.
On Wednesday the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund revealed the rosters of four teams and confirmed previous reports that Mito Pereira and Sebastian Munoz would be joining the league. Both players will join David Puig on Joaquin Niemann’s Torque GC.
Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC also got a shake up with the addition of Matthew Wolff to the roster alongside Jason Kokrak and Chase Koepka.
The Majesticks, co-captained by Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter, remain unchanged from 2022 with Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield completing the team.
Just days after the 4 Aces GC won the team championship, it was reported they had already made a move to add Peter Uihlein alongside captain Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez. That move is now official as Uihlein replaces Talor Gooch.
Here’s the roster release schedule for the rest of the week (captains in parentheses):
Friday: HyFlyers GC (Phil Mickelson), Iron Heads GC (Kevin Na), Ripper GC (Cam Smith) and Stinger GC (Louis Oosthuizen).
Broadcast plans
Earlier this week the league also announced its television plans after signing a TV deal with the CW Network last month. LIV will be available in every U.S. market in 2022 across CW affiliates, as well as Nexstar owned and operated stations. Second- and third-round coverage on Saturday and Sunday will be broadcast from 1-6 p.m. ET for all 14 events. Opening rounds on Friday will only be available on the CW app. If fans want to watch the live action when LIV tees it up in time zones opposite the states – Australia, Singapore or Saudi Arabia, for example – live coverage will be available on the app.
The LIV Golf League will begin its 14-event second season next week at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Course on the Riviera Maya, Feb. 24-26.
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