Ian Poulter’s love affair with the Ryder Cup might be over.
The outspoken Englishman said Tuesday that it’s no guarantee he would play for Europe in the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome if he does manage to qualify.
“I would love to qualify. Whether I play or not would be a different thing,” the LIV Golf player told reporters ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
“I certainly don’t expect to get one of the six (captain’s) picks. Not in any way, shape or form. Which is also a shame.”
Poulter has played in seven Ryder Cups in his career, helping Europe win five. He has a 15-8-2 overall record in the event, including 6-0-1 in singles.
But his standing for this year’s competition is in jeopardy because of his allegiance to the Saudi-backed LIV tour. The DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour) attempted to ban LIV players from competing in its events last summer, but Poulter and others won a temporary stay on that ruling.
A court case in Europe is scheduled for next month to determine whether the DP World tour can banish members of LIV. If they can, it would take players like Poulter and Spaniard Sergio Garcia out of the running for Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson was stripped of his 2023 European captaincy upon accepting a deal to join LIV Golf. He was replaced by Englishman Luke Donald, who has not answered what he calls “hypotheticals” about whether he’d add LIV players to his team.
Poulter got snippy with the official Ryder Cup Twitter account last week, pointing out that it hadn’t acknowledged his 47th birthday or Garcia’s 43rd birthday the day before.
Poulter said Tuesday he was “fighting petty with petty” with that decision.
“Through time I have said lots of silly things,” Poulter said. “Should I have said it? Yes and no. All I did was highlight a fact. There was no other reason.”
–Field Level Media