THE FUTURE OF THE RYDER CUP IS IN JEOPARDY

LIV Golf has sent shockwaves through the professional game – but the deepest tremor has just hit with Henrik Stenson’s ‘sacking’ as 2023 Ryder Cup captain.

I’ll say that again – Henrik Stenson has effectively been sacked as Europe’s leader in Rome, with the bookies looking to Thomas Bjorn as his replacement.

As far as two-fingered salutes go, Stenson’s is right up there. He knew what signing for LIV meant; he carried on regardless. But where does that leave the Ryder Cup, the biggest event in the game and the European Tour’s cash cow?

Stenson is well-liked among his colleagues. This decision won’t sit well with many of them. But then look at other nailed-on captains who’ve already joined LIV; Poulter, Westwood, Casey, Mcdowell… Sergio Garcia – the most successful Ryder Cup player in history –will NEVER be captain.

It’s astonishing.

More worryingly for the

Tour’s bosses is who will they replace them with? Bjorn triumphed in Paris, but he’s hardly had a box-office career. Paul Lawrie?

Bring Sandy Lyle back off the senior tour? Both very worthy captains, but better than Poults, or Sergio, or Westwood?

And then there’s the question of who’ll play? If they can sack the captain, how can they let LIV defectors such as Bernd Wiesberger represent Europe? And what would that mean to ticket sales, TV deals, sponsorship deals, deals to host it? Will Adare Manor really want to remain as the 2027 venue if the team isn’t the best it could possibly be? Are the likes of Sky and Rolex going to pay mega money in 2025 if the team is made up of players from the back half of the world’s top 100?

Whatever your views on the money, and where it comes from, LIV isn’t going away. And if players like Stenson are now putting their pay packets before continental pride, the Ryder Cup as we know it could die.