Henrik Stenson opens up on Ryder Cup sacking: "That's my disappointment"

Henrik Stenson has opened up on his sacking as the European Ryder Cup captain after the Swede joined the rival LIV Golf League.

Ben Smith

24 Jul 2023

Henrik Stenson opens up on Ryder Cup sacking: "That's my disappointment"

Henrik Stenson has revealed one of his biggest disappointments over being stripped of the European Ryder Cup captaincy.

Stenson became persona non grata when he bolted to LIV Golf last July for a fee said to be in the region of $40m.

The Swede claimed victory on his debut then took aim at the European chiefs who decided he was not worthy of the honour.

"I think we can all agree I played like a captain today," said Stenson in Bedminster.

Fast-forward to July 2023 and the main golf organisations have, at least temporarily, agreed to all be friends.

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf's backers, the PIF, aannounced on 6 June a vague 'framework agreement'.

It was an announcement that Stenson admitted to the New York Post he's 'sitting tight over'.

| Henrik Stenson says he isn't dwelling on what has transpired over the last 12 months when asked if he should or shouldn't have been treated like 'an outcast' amid the PGA Tour/PIF deal. pic.twitter.com/vb5KkF59AC
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) July 5, 2023

But there is of course the element of hypocrisy that Stenson is all too aware of. "I wouldn't call it vindication," Lee Westwood told reporters at Centurion Club a few weeks ago.

To this writer his face told a different story. As did Stenson's.

"Well, that's nice to hear," Stenson told one reporter who suggested he shouldn't have been treated like an outcast all along. "Thanks for the support."

Now Stenson has opened up a bit about what happened after playing the 2023 Open at Royal Liverpool.

Henrik Stenson opens up on Ryder Cup sacking:

"I'm just disappointed that with everything that came out, because there was a big willingness on my part to sit down and talk long before this thing got to where it got to," Stenson told the Post after tying for 13th at Hoylake, adding:

"That's my disappointment — that there were certain people, without naming names, that didn't want to sit down and take those meetings.

"And, as a consequence, I feel like we ended up in all of this that could have been avoided. But we live and we learn."

So what comes next?

"A lot of these decisions are not on my plate. We'll see where it ends up — from Ryder Cup to memberships on DP World Tour and PGA Tour and all the rest of it. I'm just sitting tight right now.

"I knew I could have fulfilled my obligations as captain, but clearly the DP World Tour and Ryder Cup Europe didn't see it that way, and that's why they made that decision. I'll look forward and not backward."

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