European captain Luke Donald has told LIV Golf players that their eligibility for this year's Ryder Cup "has not changed" following the proposed merger of the breakaway circuit with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
On June 6 the world of golf was left in shock, after it was confirmed an agreement had been made for LIV Golf the PGA Tour and DP World Tour to work under one entity, backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The deal has seemingly brought to an end the ugly feud between the circuits that has plagued the sport over the past year.
Following the announcement earlier this month, there were all sorts of questions asked to where this left the sport after a year of in-fighting. One notable question on the lips of fans was how it affected the selection process of this year's Ryder Cup.
Following the formation of LIV last summer the saga surrounding players who made the Saudi switch has provided a headache for captain's Donald and Zach Johnson.
For the European things were made slightly easier in April, after a whole host of players - including stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood - resigned their DP World Tour memberships on the back of sanctions handed to them due to their LIV Golf allegiances.
Players wanting to represent Team Europe at the matchplay event must be registered members of the Tour, settling the debate for Poulter and co. Amid the proposed merger though it remained unclear as to whether this would once again open up the Ryder Cup door due to the tours all operating under one entity.
Despite the agreement though, Donald has admitted nothing has yet changed when it comes to eligibility. Speaking at the BMW International Open, the captain said: "Obviously when that announcement was made, my first question was, ‘does this affect anything I am doing and my selection process and my ability to select players?’...
"To be honest, nothing has changed. We are still bound by the rules and regulations that the arbitration granted the DP World Tour a few months ago. To be eligible [for the Ryder Cup], you still have to be born in Europe and be a DP World Tour member. So, nothing has changed.”
Gaining this membership back may not be as clear as first though for those who opted to resign, as outlined by Tour boss Keith Pelley on the back of the announcement. In a letter to players, he wrote: "In terms of the rules and regulations, they chose to resign. Currently, they’re not members so they’re not eligible to be on the Ryder Cup team.
"They haven’t requested reinstatement, but they may request it. That would have to be an exceptional circumstance to allow them to reinstate their membership, based on the rules and regulations, as the deadline [for Ryder Cup eligibility] is May 1st. However, I can emphatically tell you that if they were to ask for reinstatement and we were to consider it, regardless they would still need to serve their suspensions and pay their fines.”
