WENTWORTH — Ryder Cup superstars they maybe, pillars of the old European Tour they undoubtedly were. Persona non grata at Wentworth? Absolutely.
Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter helped shape European golf, helped forge the identity of an organisation now branded DP World Tour.
They are all in the field at the BMW PGA Championship, the tour’s flagship event, yet none feature on the billboards selling the tournament and all are excluded from the pre-tournament pro-am.
As far as the organisers are concerned they barely exist, and would be barred were it not for a court hearing next February to determine the legitimacy of the tour’s powers to ban LIV golfers from DP World events.
The atmosphere about Wentworth is thick with tension, a consequence of the presence of 17 LIV golfers who are taking up places that would otherwise have gone to DP World Tour members.
Old friendships have become strained. Resentment festers even among the more reasonable voices.
One such, Billy Horschel, who defends here this week and counts Westwood and Poulter among his friends, believes that neither should be teeing up on Thursday.
Horschel is even more dismissive of those among the LIV rebels who have no attachment to the DP World Tour (previously the European Tour) and are in the field simply to chase ranking points to boost their major chances next year.
“Even though Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have been stalwarts for the European Tour, I don’t think those guys really should be here,” Horschel said.
“I honestly don’t think that the guys who haven’t supported the tour should be here. Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch. You’ve never played this tournament, you’ve never supported the DP World Tour. Why are you here? You are here for one reason only and that’s to try to get world ranking points.
“It’s hypocritical because of what some of these guys have said. They said they wanted to play less golf. It’s pretty hypocritical to come over here and play outside LIV when your big thing was to spend more time with family.”
Jon Rahm is making only his second appearance at a tournament he acknowledges as one of the most important on the European calendar. Covid prevented a return after his debut in 2019. Since then Rahm has evolved into a European heavyweight and one of key defenders of the PGA Tour in the internecine struggle with LIV Golf.
Though Rahm hopes for a negotiated settlement between the factions, he has no time for the opportunists pitching up here chasing ranking points. He exempts the likes of Garcia, Westwood and Poulter from that charge out of respect for past contributions to the European Tour, but not the likes of Gooch and Ancer.
“It does bug me that somebody who has played 20 DP World events this year cannot be given the opportunity to play a flagship event because some are being given an opportunity when they couldn’t care any less about the event.
“They don’t care. They don’t know the history of this event. They are only here because they are trying to get ranking points and trying to finish in the Top-50. That’s clear as day,” Rahm said.
Even the good news can’t escape the LIV infection. The announcement of a new team event in Abu Dhabi next January between Great Britain and Ireland and Europe is warped by February’s pending court case. The Hero Cup is intended as a Ryder Cup tester event involving candidates for selection in Luke Donald’s European team. Yet until the case is resolved the status of Westwood, Garcia and Poulter remains unknown and compromises the selection of the two teams.
Donald, a close friend of Garcia’s, would not be drawn on the toxic LIV complication, nor on the viability of including LIV rebels in next September’s Ryder Cup renewal against the United States in Rome. But his silence could not disguise the unease written across his face. A meeting of the players scheduled for Tuesday night threatened to further expose the bad feeling between the sides.
