(Reuters) – The PGA Tour and Europe’s DP World Tour must be on the same page in deciding whether players from the breakaway LIV Series can take part in the Ryder Cup, former U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm said.
The U.S.-based PGA Tour has suspended those who joined the rebel circuit but the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, has yet to decide whether LIV players can play in the Ryder Cup.
Spaniard Rahm said it would not be a smart move to have one team with LIV players and one without.
“There’s some people that are going to have to make some tough choices, right? A little bit of that is out of my reach,” Rahm said at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
“I hope the PGA of America and European Tour make a decision together.”
Critics say LIV Golf, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, amounts to “sportswashing” by a nation trying to improve its reputation in the face of criticism over its human rights record.
The Ryder Cup will be played from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1 in Rome with Europe looking to rebound from their thrashing at Whistling Straits in 2021 when the United States fielded their youngest ever team.
“Even if they decide not to on that side, I think it’s going to give an opportunity for a lot of great young players to show up and have the chance in Europe. It’s just going to be an opportunity for all of them,” Rahm added.
“We saw a younger U.S. team last Ryder Cup and they did what they did. So I’m hoping these younger guys who’ve grown up watching the Ryder Cup and seeing their idols … it energises the team a little in any manner and we show up there to win.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
