Stenson stripped of Ryder Cup captaincy and confirms LIV deal

Henrik Stenson will lose the Ryder Cup captaincy when he joins LIV Golf.

Henrik Stenson has been stripped of the Ryder Cup Europe captaincy and confirmed move to LIV Golf, worth a reported $40m.

Stenson, who will turn his back on the DP World Tour and move to LIV Golf, was removed as captain of the European Ryder Cup team on Wednesday morning for breaching his contract, just months after calling it his “dream” to lead the continent’s attempts to regain the trophy.

“Ryder Cup Europe today confirms that Henrik Stenson’s tenure as Captain of Team Europe for the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy from September 25 – October 1, 2023, has been brought to an end with immediate effect,” a statement read.

RELATED: Luke Donald named Ryder Cup captain

“In light of decisions made by Henrik in relation to his personal circumstances, it has become clear that he will not be able to fulfil certain contractual obligations to Ryder Cup Europe that he had committed to prior to his announcement as Captain on Tuesday March 15, 2022, and it is therefore not possible for him to continue in the role of Captain.

“Confirmation of the new 2023 European Ryder Cup Captain will be made in due course. Ryder Cup Europe will be making no further comment on any aspect of the process until that time.”

RELATED: LIV reveal 2023 league plans!

The Swede had long been linked with the fledgling rebel series and has decided to join a host of other Ryder Cup stars in the Saudi-backed venture over leading Europe in Italy next year.

In a lengthy statement, Stenson confirmed he be in the field for the LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster, which starts on July 29, and expressed his disappointment that it had cost him his Ryder Cup role as he had made “specific arrangements with LIV Golf, who have been supportive of my role as captain, to ensure I could fulfil the obligations of captain,” but said he accepts the decision.

RELATED: Presidents Cup 2022 Preview

He also admitted that “part of my decision to play in LIV Golf events has been commercially driver,” but said the format, schedule and caliber of players were also “significant factors”. He added that he is “committed to growing the game. We understand he’ll receive a $40m signing-on fee.

Padraig Harrington, Europe’s 2021 Ryder Cup captain, told Sky Sports he was disappointed Stenson hadn’t waited until after his stint as skipper had come to a conclusion.

DP World Tour star Eddie Pepperell was among those who replied to the statement, saying: “Henrik, just be honest, it was a bucket load of cash and you couldn’t resist it, like the rest of the guys. Will always love your game (especially those mid-irons!) but what a disappointing thing to do.”

Mike Lorenzo-Vera also criticised the former World No.2’s statement. “It’s nice to see lawyers write instead of the player… it feels so honest,” he wrote on Twitter. “What a disappointing behavior… what a bunch of bullshit… thank you to drop the team Henrik. Great role model…”

Hours later LIV officially announced Stenson as part of their roster, alongside Jason Kokrak and Charles Howell III, with all three making their debuts at Bedminster. Stenson will join Majesticks GC, captained by Lee Westwood. It is unclear whether he will replace Ian Poulter, Sam Horsfield or Laurie Canter in the team.

“Henrik Stenson adds yet another outstanding resume to LIV Golf’s global roster of elite players,” Greg Norman, LIV Golf CEO, said. “His career performances spanning majors, season-long individual championships and international competitions have cemented him as a leader in today’s game.”

Speaking after missing the cut in The Open, Stenson had said his schedule for the remainder of the year was “undecided”.

RELATED: Stenson’s pride at becoming Ryder Cup captain

Having held talks with former captains on Sunday, we understand DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley and Kinnings attempted to persuade the 46-year-old out of the move on Tuesday, but it quickly became clear that his decision had been made. It is the first time a captain has been removed from the coveted role in the event’s history.

Stenson’s defection is a massive blow to the Ryder Cup, Team Europe and the DP World Tour, with the former Open champion set to lead a host of big names announcing their move to the Greg Norman-fronted Tour over the next week.

New Open champion Cameron Smith, 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Bubba Watson and Mark Leishman are among those strongly-linked, with Australian Smith refusing to deny the rumours during his champion’s press conference at the 150^th Open.

“I’ve just won the British Open and you’re asking me about that?” Smith snapped. “I think that’s pretty… not that good.” But when pushed he said: “I dunno mate, my team around me worries about all that stuff, I’m here to win golf tournaments.”

It is believed the Champion Golfer of the Year has been offered in the region of $110m to make the move. His Open victory, which earned him a record $2.5m, means he is now guaranteed to play all Majors until 2027.

As for Stenson – who was a shock appointment over favourite Luke Donald – he will follow former Ryder Cup teammates Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Graeme McDowell, and Martin Kaymer onto the big-money tour, which sees players compete across 54-holes with shotgun starts and team events alongside the individual tournament.

RELATED: Stenson should hang his head in shame

Team USA has already lost a host of its stars to LIV, with Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, and Patrick Reed all on board.

Speculation is rife over who will replace Stenson, with many suggesting Donald will be handed the role – if he is willing to accept it having been shunned in the first place. However, it has been reported that Thomas Bjorn, who Stenson had names as a vice captain, could be asked to lead the team for a second time having captained a European team that included Stenson, Garcia, Casey, and Poulter, to a dominant victory in Paris in 2018. Other names mentioned include Robert Karlsson, Paul Lawrie, and Edoardo Molinari.

As a player, Stenson made his Ryder Cup debut for Europe at The K Club, in Ireland, in 2006, when he secured the winning point in a dominant 18½ – 9½ victory. He was also a member of the victorious teams in 2014 at Gleneagles, Scotland, and 2018 at Le Golf National, in France, as well as being part of the European Teams in both 2008 and 2016.

He was selected as Europe’s 2023 Ryder Cup Captain by a five-man selection panel comprising the three most recent European Ryder Cup Captains – Pádraig Harrington, Thomas Bjørn and Darren Clarke – as well as the Chief Executive of the European Tour group, Keith Pelley, and DP World Tour Tournament Committee Chairman David Howell, and became the first Swede to be given the role.

Speaking at his unveiling, Stenson said: “I am absolutely thrilled and delighted to be the European Ryder Cup Captain – it is a huge honour and I was humbled to get the call confirming the new.

“I would like to thank the selection panel for believing in me and will say to them, and every European golf fan, that I will do everything in my power and leave no stone unturned in the quest to get the Ryder Cup back in European hands.
 
“The Ryder Cup is golf, and sport, at its very best. I got goosebumps every time I pulled on a European shirt as a player and that will be magnified in the role of Captain. While it is great for me personally, it is also great for my country and all the players from Sweden who have played for Europe with such distinction since Joakim Haeggman became the first in 1993.
 
“When I started out as a professional golfer, it was beyond my wildest dreams that, one day, I would follow in the footsteps of legends of the game such as Seve and be the European Ryder Cup Captain. But today proves that, sometimes, dreams do come true.”

There is some good news for Team Europe, though, with Tommy Fleetwood rejecting a move to LIV. The two-time Ryder Cup star, who shone in Paris alongside Francesco Molinari, has been consistently linked with the series. His wife and agent, Clare, was even seen at the opening event at Centurion Club and has regularly liked tweets about the new tour, but the 31-year-old, who has five DP World Tour wins, has ended the speculation.

The latest chapter in the LIV story comes as the dust settles on a phenomenal Open Championship at St Andrews – the first time players from the DP World, PGA, and LIV Tours have competed against each other en masse since the controversial series launched at Centurion Club in June.

RELATED: Everything you missed at The Open

News broke on the final day of the Major that Sergio Garcia, the Ryder Cup’s all-time leading points scorer, was quitting the DP World Tour and, therefore, surrendering his chance to play in or captain any future Team Europe sides.

“My resignation is not official, but I’m going to make it effective,” the Spaniard told media in his home country. “What they are doing is a shame because the European Tour is going to become the fifth in the world.”

That means Garcia sees the DP World Tour, which helped launch his career, slipping behind the Liv Golf Series, PGA Tour, Asian Tour, and the Korn Ferry Tour.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about LIV Golf

The Masters champion and record Ryder Cup points scorer also blasted Bjorn.

“I want to play where they want me, I like to feel loved, and honestly on the European Tour I don’t feel loved now,” said the man who’s scored 28.5 points in the biennial match.

“When Thomas Bjorn comes to the BMW Championship and tells us that here ‘we don’t want any of you and all the players say so’, well, I’m already old enough not to be putting up with nonsense like that.

“There are comments that do not make you feel good. I have given more than half of my life to the European Tour and I was going to continue on the European Tour.

“I feel sorry for the Ryder Cup, my resignation is not official, but I’m going to make it effective. I have what I have and I am very happy with it and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I will play less, I will be more at home.”

Interestingly, Bjorn says he has had no conversations with the 2017 Masters champion about his move to LIV, while Garcia is reported to have flown off the handle in Germany, shouting “this Tour is s***, you’re all f*****, should have taken the Saudi money.” According to one caddie, Robert MacIntyre, a decrier of the LIV Golf Series, was there and was disgusted.

Garcia’s resignation, alongside the PGA Tour’s ban on LIV players, means he may now choose to play full-time on the LIV Series and the Asian Tour, which has seen significant investment from LIV’s Saudi backers.

The field for the next LIV event was announced on Tuesday (July 20) with 45 players revealed, including debutant Paul Casey. There were no other surprises on that list, but the remaining three players will be announced in the coming days.

Speaking at The Open, Casey revealed that a host of LIV players are considering playing the same Asian Tour events to boost the strength of fields and therefore world ranking points.

LIV has applied for Official World Golf Rankings status, and an initial meeting of the committee which makes the decision was held at St Andrews ahead of The Open.

If LIV players cannot earn points by playing in the series they will need to find a way of earning them elsewhere to ensure their world rankings do not significantly drop and, barring any bans, they can still play in the Majors.

“There’s talk about guys sort of playing a couple,” Casey said of playing on the Asian Tour. “I don’t even know the schedule. I’m sorry, whether they go play something before Bangkok to get ready, or the break in August, because there’s one, the next one is in Bedminster.

“Then I think there’s a break before it’s Boston or Chicago. I get my dates mixed up. Do they go play to be a bit sharper? There’s a lot of discussion, a lot of WhatsApp chat group feeds going around. I’m not part of most of them. I think the discussion was if guys turn up en masse, then it lifts the World Ranking points. So if they’re going to go play an Asian Tour, they all go together.”

The Englishman joined the new circuit during the second event in Portland, and will be part of Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC team when he makes his debut in New Jersey at the end of the month.

The 44-year-old, whose appearance at The Open was his first Major of the season after recovering from a back injury, said he’s aware his LIV move might cost him the opportunity of playing in more Grand Slam events.

“I was fully aware of what might be, of the possibility of not playing Majors,” the 15-time DP World Tour winner said. “I think it’s an interesting question for the younger guys. Myself, I mean, I’m hanging on in the world rankings.

“I don’t know what guys are going to do. I think there’s the option of playing some Asian Tour events. We’re going to see what happens with the DP World Tour. But I was under no illusions that my ranking could slide and be out within however long, whatever the timeframe is. More incentive to play well this week as well to try and get points. I did my due diligence, put it that way.”

Former World No.1 Ernie Els believes all of the tours could work together for the good of the game, with LIV events being played in the off-season.

“It’s crazy at the moment,” the South African told Golf Digest at this week’s Senior Open. “It’s just a shame how things are being split up. My view—and I discussed this with the Saudi people a long time ago—was always to do things with the major tours. Everybody should partner up in this team and individual format. And play it in the dead season. That wouldn’t interfere with any of the main tours, It wouldn’t interfere with real golf as we know it.

“Greg [Norman] keeps stirring from his side and it seems that [PGA Tour commissioner] Jay [Monahan] has got to defend himself.

“Some of the players have also been speaking out and it seems like a tug of war a little bit. It’s really very uncomfortable and surely there has to be some kind of negotiation to come. But the LIV side, they have dug their heels in. They need to negotiate with the tour and the tour needs to talk to them to see if there can be some compromise.”

RELATED: How much are LIV Golf players paid?

The four-time Major champ sees no way LIV’s 54-hole tournaments can be given world ranking status, pointing to the Champions Tour as an example.

“Fifty-four-hole events means the players are going to lose ranking points,” the Big Easy said. “They are going to have to play the Asian Tour. I’m sure those events are going to be $5-6 million in no time. That’s where they are going to have to play to get their ranking points.

“The rest of the world is playing 72-hole stroke-play events. You have a cut after 36 holes and that’s how you get your ranking and make your money. LIV Golf doesn’t do that, so why would you be under the same brush with the rest of the world. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s a different format of golf. It’s what we do on the Champions Tour at the age of 50 and they don’t give us world ranking points.

“Just because you are playing for $20 million a week doesn’t change anything. It’s still 54 holes. There’s no basis to it, there’s no substance to it. You can’t have a 48-man tour playing no-cut golf and expect the world to take you seriously. It’s not going to happen.”

Meanwhile, David Feherty, so long considered the voice of the PGA Tour, looks set to join LIV Golf as one of their lead analysts.

The 63-year-old, who played for Europe in the 1991 Ryder Cup, spent more than two decades with CBS before moving to NBC and the Golf Channel seven years ago.

However, that relationship has now ended, and Feherty is expected to join host Arlo White and the rest of the LIV team at their next tournament, starting on July 29.

RELATED: Feherty – “I was the Tiger Woods of drinking”

That event will be held at Donald Trump’s National Golf Club in Bedminster and the 45th President of the United States has urged more players to join the rebel circuit and turn their backs on the “disloyal” PGA Tour.

The outspoken 76-year-old took to his Truth Social platform to tell players that they risk missing out entirely if they don’t make the move now.

“All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year,” Trump wrote.

‘If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing after the merger takes place, and only say how smart the original signees were.”

Trump has ignored an open letter from group of family members of victims of 9/11 which urges him to drop his involvement in the Saudi-backed competition.

Of the 15 men who were involved in carrying out the September 11 atrocities, which killed 2,977 people, 11 were Saudi nationals.   

“We simply cannot understand how you could agree to accept money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s golf league to host their tournament at your golf course, and to do so in the shadows of Ground Zero in New Jersey, which lost over 700 residents during the attacks,” the group wrote in its letter.

“It is difficult for us to fully express the extreme pain, frustration and anger this upcoming tournament at Bedminster causes our community … it is incomprehensible to us that a former President of the United States would cast our loved ones aside for personal financial gain.”

The group carried out protests ahead of LIV’s Portland event earlier this month – the first of their events to be played on American soil.

READ NEXT: R&A chief slams LIV Golf