Padraig Harrington’s Ryder Cup advice over LIV Golf rebels was ignored

27 September 2023 , 11:00

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Padraig Harrington captained Team Europe at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits (Image: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)

Padraig Harrington has already made his feelings clear on the involvement of LIV Golf players at the Ryder Cup.

The 2023 edition of the Ryder Cup begins this week at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Italy. Team USA is looking to retain the trophy after winning the tournament in 2021 at Whistling Straits.

Harrington was the captain of Team Europe two years ago in the US and has previously competed for Europe on several occasions. This time, though, the Irishman will have to settle for watching on from the stands as a supporter.

Luke Donald will be captaining Team Europe this year, after replacing Henrik Stenson in August 2022. Donald will be assisted by Thomas Bjorn, Nicolas Colsaerts, Edoardo Molinari, Francesco Molinari, and Jose Maria Olazabal.

One topic of debate going into this year’s Ryder Cup is the involvement of players who are competing for LIV. A large number of players left the PGA Tour and DP World Cup in 2022 to sign up for the Saudi-funded breakaway league.

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Harrington was asked about the prospect of players from LIV competing in the Ryder Cup back in June. And it was here that Harrington admitted that he would not be against players from the Saudi-funded league taking part for Team Europe or Team USA.

“I think the Ryder Cup is going to have the LIV players back,” Harrington told on June 20. “They definitely warrant consideration. They’re good players. To suggest there aren’t players capable of being Ryder Cup players over at LIV would be silly.

“A couple of them are at the stage [where] it [might be] their last hurrah, but not all of them for sure. Luke’s got to pick his best team at the end of the day.”

Padraig Harrington has previously spoken about LIV Golf players competing in the Ryder Cup (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

For Team Europe, there are a number of players who have been ever-present on the team in recent years. Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood, all of whom have signed up for LIV within the past 18 months, are not part of Donald’s team for this year’s Ryder Cup.

Over in the United States, captain Zach Johnson did not select Phil Mickelson or Dustin Johnson with any of his six picks for Team USA. Brooks Koepka, who like Mickelson and Johnson joined LIV, was selected for the tournament.

Koepka won the PGA Championship in May to secure the fifth major title of his career. He will be the only member of either Team USA or Europe to have signed up for LIV.

Mark Wakefield