Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia have resigned from the DP World Tour and in the process seemingly ended their Ryder Cup careers.
The trio have been stalwarts of Europe’s Ryder Cup squad for the best part of three decades but last summer decided to join the LIV Golf series.
A host of other top names were lured to the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway venture with multi-million dollar deals, huge prize funds and no-cut events.
It proved the catalyst for months of wrangling and legal battles and despite Westwood, Poulter and Garcia long ago pledging their allegiances to LIV Golf, only now have they handed in their resignation to the DP World Tour in the latest chapter of the sport’s civil war.
Englishman Richard Bland has also resigned from the DP World Tour, but it is the confirmation of Westwood, Poulter and Garcia’s withdrawal that is the final nail in the coffin of their illustrious Ryder Cup careers.
Westwood remains Europe’s record appearance holder with 11 showings and Garcia the leading all-time points scorer of the competition, while the biennial event always brought out the best of Poulter, but they will now definitely not be involved in September’s latest instalment in Rome.
“The DP World Tour today confirmed it has received membership resignations from Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Richard Bland and Lee Westwood who were sanctioned for serious breaches of the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation committed last June,” a statement read.
“The DP World Tour would like to take this opportunity to thank the four players for the contribution they have made to the Tour and in particular to Sergio, Ian and Lee for the significant part they have played in Europe’s success in the Ryder Cup over many years.
“Their resignations, however, along with the sanctions imposed upon them, are a consequence of their own choices.
“As we have consistently maintained throughout the past year, the Tour has a responsibility to its entire membership to administer the member regulations which each player signs up to. These regulations are in place to protect the collective interests of all DP World Tour members.
“The independent panel appointed by Sport Resolutions recognised this, determining that our Conflicting Tournament Regulation and its application in the circumstances did not go beyond what was necessary and proportionate to the Tour’s continued operation as a professional golf tour and that we have a legitimate interest in protecting the rights of our full membership by enforcing it.
“A further update on other sanctioned members will be provided on Thursday.”
Westwood, Poulter, Garcia and Bland were all given sanctions by the DP World Tour for breaking rules by appearing in the LIV Golf series’ opening event in Hemel Hempstead last year without permission.
Scheffler and Koepka suffer humiliating record loss as Europe dominate Ryder Cup
World number one Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka suffered a humiliating record defeat as Europe continued to dominate the 44th Ryder Cup in Rome.
The American pair were five over par for the first three holes as they crumbled to a 9&7 defeat by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, the largest margin of victory in any 18-hole match in the event’s history.
That extended the home side’s lead to six points and it looked like there would be more to come as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood were three up with six to play against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in the opening foursomes.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were ahead by the same margin in the bottom match against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, with Brian Harman and Max Homa putting the only American red on the board as they led Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka by one hole after 10.
Europe captain Luke Donald had warned his side to be wary of the US players reacting like “a wounded animal” as they looked to overturn a record-equalling five-point deficit, but the only wounds on show were entirely self-inflicted.
Hovland and Aberg were one over par for the first three holes but won them all, before Aberg almost made a hole-in-one on the fourth.
Another birdie on the sixth took the European pair five up and with both American players struggling badly, it was only a matter of time before they were put out of their misery.
Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka add to USA woes with horror start to day two
World number one Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka were guilty of a comedy of errors as the United States suffered a nightmare start to day two of the Ryder Cup.
Europe captain Luke Donald had warned his side to be wary of the US players reacting like “a wounded animal” as they looked to overturn a record-equalling five-point deficit, but the only wounds on show were entirely self-inflicted.
Scheffler and Koepka covered the first three holes of their foursomes match with Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg in five over par to unsurprisingly lose all three, before Aberg almost holed his tee shot on the fourth to extend the lead.
Another birdie on the sixth took the European pair five up and there was more good news for the home fans as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood took command of their match with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
Pars on the first and third, either side of Fleetwood’s birdie on the second, took the European pair three up and although the Americans won the fifth, they conceded the next after struggling to find Spieth’s drive in the rough and being refused relief for an embedded ball.
Donald had unsurprisingly kept faith with the pairings who had secured an unprecedented clean sweep on Friday morning and saw Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton take an early lead against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Max Homa and Brian Harman briefly had some American red on the board with a birdie on the second, but had been pegged back to all square by Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka.
United States captain Zach Johnson had kept two foursomes pairs together despite the opening whitewash, although his hand had no doubt been forced by an illness spreading through the team.
“There’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said.
“It’s not an excuse because we have depth but I’ll just say I’m grateful we have a team doctor. Guys are fighting and playing regardless.
“It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there.”
Europe look to extend Ryder Cup lead after keeping faith with foursomes pairs
Luke Donald unsurprisingly kept faith with his history-making foursomes pairings as Europe looked to extend their lead on day two of the Ryder Cup.
After enjoying an unprecedented clean sweep of the opening session, the home side also staged three dramatic comebacks in the afternoon fourballs to ensure the United States failed to win a match in a day’s play for the first time.
The resulting five-point lead equalled the largest in the contest’s history, a margin most recently achieved at Oakland Hills in 2004, when US captain Hal Sutton disastrously paired Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson twice on day one.
Donald’s only change was to send Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood out first, against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton switched to match four against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg remained in match two against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, with Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka taking on Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman.
United States captain Zach Johnson had kept two foursomes pairs together despite the opening whitewash, although his hand had no doubt been forced by an illness spreading through the team.
“There’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said.
“It’s not an excuse because we have depth but I’ll just say I’m grateful we have a team doctor. Guys are fighting and playing regardless.
“It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
