Players who have joined the LIV Golf Invitational Series have already been suspended from the PGA Tour. Now, it sounds like members of the Saudi-backed tour won’t have a chance to play for the United States Ryder Cup team.
Zach Johnson has been selected as the U.S. Ryder Cup Captain for 2023. At a press conference for the John Deere Classic, Johnson indicated that LIV Golf players won’t have the chance to qualify for the Ryder Cup because they are ineligible to compete in PGA Tour events.
"So what I know is this: In order to play on the Ryder Cup team whether you're top-six or a pick, you must garner Ryder Cup points through the PGA of America," Johnson said. "In order to garner Ryder Cup points through the PGA of America, you have to be a member of the PGA of America. The way that we're members of the PGA of America is through the PGA Tour. I'll let you connect the dots from there."
Team USA defeated Europe 19 to 9 to win the Ryder Cup last year. Of the 12 players on the U.S. team, three have left the PGA Tour in favor of LIV Golf.
Dustin Johnson was suspended from the PGA Tour when he competed in the first LIV Golf event on June 9 at Centurion Club near London. Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are the other two U.S. Ryder Cup players who are making their LIV Golf debuts Thursday at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland, Oregon.
Patrick Reed, who is also playing for LIV Golf for the first time Thursday, was a Ryder Cup participant in 2016 and 2018.
"I've thought about it [not being at the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup]. Who wouldn't?" Reed told reporters Thursday before his first LIV Golf tournament. "But at the end of the day, I felt like, when my family and I sat down and we just weighed all of our options, we felt like joining LIV Golf, especially with talking to some of the guys that played in London, that this was definitely the right decision. The right decision for us mainly mentally and physically. Just the quality of life. Being able to spend more time with the kids because that's been the hardest thing."
Phil Mickelson was vice-captain on last year’s U.S. team.
The European team would lose key players if all members of LIV Golf aren’t eligible for the Ryder Cup. Sergio Garcia is the Ryder Cup’s leading scorer and one of the top players on the LIV Golf tour. Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter also joined LIV Golf a few months after competing for Europe at the Ryder Cup.
Kevin Na, Talor Gooch, Richard Bland, Matthew Wolff, Pablo Larrazabal and Sam Horsfield are among the top LIV Golf players who could also be ineligible to play in the Ryder Cup.
Golfer Brooks Koepka is pictured. Photo: GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Patrick Smith
