Rory McIlroy cannot see Ian Poulter as a potential Ryder Cup captain, claiming the LIV renegade has lost touch with Europe’s younger players.Poulter, whose rise to the position once appeared unstoppable, said this week that he still intends to head Europe after the dust settles on golf’s civil war.
But McIlroy has questioned the practicality of those goals, citing Poulter’s absence from the mainstream tours since defecting in 2022, which has resulted in him becoming a stranger to the next generation of players.’It’s hard because we don’t really see them anymore,’ McIlroy said before of the BMW PGA Championship, which begins today at Wentworth.’
Look at what Luke (Donald, the current captain) has done in recent years; he’s made a concerted effort to come across. He performed in the Czech Republic. He was in Switzerland. He is making an attempt to interact with the athletes and make them feel at ease.With the ones that departed, Poulter and (Lee) Westwood, how can these young up-and-comers establish relationships with them if they are never here?’That’s a really significant aspect of the Ryder Cup and Ryder Cup captaincy.
I’m not suggesting Poulter lacks qualifications; I just believe that given the current state of affairs, you need someone who is there and visible as much as possible.”Right now, that can’t be them because they’re somewhere else.”Poulter, a seven-time Ryder Cup veteran, is hoping that golf’s merger discussions would pave the door for him to return to the biennial tournament after resigning from the DP World Tour last year.
When asked if he would ever be prepared to participate in the Cup under a LIV rebel, McIlroy, who is fighting a sickness, replied, ‘It’s such a gray area.
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