Sir Nick Faldo hits out at LIV Golf player returns in European Ryder Cup team

Faldo believes there is no return for LIV Golf pros as players or captains in the European Ryder Cup team.

18 Sep 2023

Sir Nick Faldo hits out at LIV Golf player returns in European Ryder Cup team — Sir Nick Faldo hits out at LIV Golf player returns in European Ryder Cup…

Sir Nick Faldo has slammed the prospect of LIV Golf players such as Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood ever returning to the European Ryder Cup team following an interview on Golf Today.

Faldo, who played in 11 European Ryder Cup teams between 1977 and 1997, first took aim at Garcia for even attempting to worm his way back into the European Ryder Cup team.

Per a report by Telegraph Sport, Garcia pleaded with DP World Tour officials to be considered for the dust-up in Rome.

Related: European Ryder Cup Player Profiles, Stats and Odds

Six-time major champion Faldo who captained the European Ryder Cup team to a loss at Valhalla in 2008, believes Luke Donald's European Ryder Cup team is now "one of the strongest" sides they have ever assembled down the years - even without record 28.5 points scorer Garcia.

*LEAKED* European Ryder Cup group chat sees Luke Donald worry about Rory McIlroy!
https://t.co/t5I4ZD0aHI pic.twitter.com/uHN5KiZdH9
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) September 18, 2023

Although USA have a better average world ranking in their side, Europe have three of the top four players in the world in Rory McIlroy (2), Jon Rahm (3) and Viktor Hovland (4).

When pressed by Eamon Lynch on whether Team Europe is any weaker without the services of Garcia, the 66-year-old hit back.

Faldo told Golf Today:

"No, these guys have moved on, you've got to be kidding! I think we have got one of the strongest teams we've ever had, plus those guys [on LIV Golf] have not played in enough tournaments, they're in a different world now, they have left the Tour and haven't supported the Tour, so hey, they are done and that's it. The team has moved on, the game has moved on, and Team Europe is fantastic. I don't think they could do anything better. They have got a really big deep backbone with guys that have been around before. We might even have a couple of very interesting secret rookies up our sleeve, which I think is very powerful. If you don't know a lot about a player, they are dangerous. They are all to gain and nothing to lose, which is a rather nice way to go and play a Ryder Cup."

WATCH FALDO'S INTERVIEW HERE:

“The team has moved on. The game has moved on.”
11-time European Ryder Cup team member @NickFaldo006 on Sergio Garcia’s absence from the Ryder Cup. pic.twitter.com/kkmdu9AeuL
— Golf Today (@GCGolfToday) September 18, 2023

Faldo was then quizzed on whether he would have any issues letting the likes of Westwood and Poulter back in the fray to become the next captain of Team Europe.

But he was once again having none of it, and instead believes the next European Ryder Cup captaincy should once again go to Donald at Bethpage Black in 2025.

Faldo said:

"I think the bottom line is they left the Tour, they knew what they were doing, they knew that by taking money it was a mathematical equation for them wasn't it? They knew there was going to be fall out from sponsors and all sorts of things but they knew they were getting a huge amount of money. They wanted to take the money and run. Personally, I think that's it and they are done with Europe. I don't think they should be let back in to represent Europe because what happened at that particular time was damaging to the European Tour. They wanted to go off on a different path. They chose that, that was their choice and that's fine. You couldn't leave your company and go off and work for a rival company and then in two years later and say 'oh well I'll come back and have a redesign for you'. Nobody is going to do that in the business world. When you decide to go off in a new direction, that's it mate. No, I think the European Tour has got plenty of choices now moving forward. As I've suggested, give Luke another go or whatever he decides. I think that is not such a bad idea. You learn so much and it would be nice to put that into good use for another one."

Do you agree with Faldo? Is this current European Ryder Cup team the strongest European team of all time? Should Donald be giving the captaincy again in 2025? Will Europe defeat USA at Marco Simone? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.

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