Martin Kaymer says LIV Golf players should be allowed to play in the Ryder Cup in the future, but admitted Europe shouldn’t make a late change for this year as “there’s too much chaos anyway” in the current men’s game.
The PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) may have agreed a deal to try and bring men’s golf back together again, but for now Ryder Cup qualification remains a headache.
European captain Luke Donald is moving forward towards Rome without any LIV Golf involvement – meaning the likes of Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood will play no part on or off the course at Marco Simone later this year.
The waters are a bit muddier for Zach Johnson with Brooks Koepka looking nailed-on to finish in the automatic qualifying spots in the Team USA Ryder Cup standings, while Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and even Patrick Reed could press their cases with strong showings at the Open next month.
And Kaymer, forever written into Ryder Cup folklore as the man who finished off the Miracle of Medinah in 2012, would like to see LIV Golf players included in future events – even though for this year at least there’s “too much chaos” to change European plans this late in the day.
“I think this year nothing should change, if you ask me. There’s too much chaos anyway, obviously the US team is their own thing,” said Kaymer.
“But, going forward, it would be nice for the golf fans and us players who want to play against the best players from both continents and I think it shouldn’t matter where you play, whether it is LIV, DP World, PGA Tour.”
Kaymer wants golfers from all tours to be eligible for future Ryder Cup, but accepts it’s too late to change things for Europe now – which includes quashing any talk of Henrik Stenson being included after the Swede lost the captaincy after switching to LIV.
“Wherever you play, you should be eligible for the Ryder Cup if you’re good enough,” Kaymer added. “This year it should stay the way it is because imagine the chaos that would come out if Henrik Stenson was being picked!
“For the future I think the fans want to see the best players competing and that would be my way forward.”
McDowell hopeful of Ryder Cup return
McDowell, another man to grab the winning point in the Ryder Cup as he completed the 2010 success at Celtic Manor, agrees with Kaymer about the best players qualifying regardless of where they play.
And although he's not playing well enough right now, he thinks he could play his way back into future Ryder Cups.
"I’m not playing well enough to be considered for the 12 places," said McDowell. "Do I believe I can play in the future? Yes, I believe I’m good enough to be out there.
"Would I like to be in Rome to help Luke Donald out? Of course I would love to be there. There’s too much water under the bridge regarding the prep which Luke and his backroom staff have done and we wish them well.
"Do I think there are any players on LIV good enough to play on the European Ryder Cup team? Yes, I do think there are a couple of guys and we’ll have to see how it all shakes out.
"I think it should be the 12 best European players against the 12 best US players. In the end, it doesn’t matter where they play.”
