The announcement Tuesday that Henrik Stenson has been stripped of his European Ryder Cup captaincy confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets surrounding LIV Golf’s insurgency in the professional game.
Stenson has long been rumored to be interested in joining the Greg Norman-run group, and while the European Ryder Cup announcement came before official confirmation of Stenson’s new allegiance, it didn’t come as a surprise.
The five-time Ryder Cup player is expected to play his first LIV event next week at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.
“It’s a very sad day for European golf,” Colin Montgomerie said.
It was another wobbling blow to the DP World Tour, which funds much of its financial operation from the Ryder Cups that it hosts, including the 2023 version at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, the one Stenson was ticketed to lead.
Now he’s out, as are potential European captains Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio García and Paul Casey, essentially gutting the core of players instrumental in Europe’s domination of the Ryder Cup over the past two decades.
“In light of decisions made by Henrik in relation to his personal circumstances, it has become clear that he will not be able to fulfill certain contractual obligations to Ryder Cup Europe that he had committed to prior to his announcement as Captain on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, and it is therefore not possible for him to continue in the role of Captain,” Ryder Cup Europe said in a press release.
“Confirmation of the new 2023 European Ryder Cup Captain will be made in due course. Ryder Cup Europe will be making no further comment on any aspect of the process until that time.”
Now, the European team is forced to start over to find a team leader as it seeks to regain the cup won in dominating fashion by the Americans last year at Whistling Straits. While the American side has been impacted by LIV, the European side has been reshaped.
The rumors about Stenson’s interest in LIV Golf had been bubbling before he was announced as the European captain in March, and his acceptance of the role suggested he was willing to wait before potentially taking LIV’s financial inducements.
During the press conference announcing his appointment, Stenson sounded like a man committed to the role.
“There’s been a lot of speculations back and forth, and as I said, I am fully committed to the captaincy and to Ryder Cup Europe and the job at hand. So we’re going to keep busy with that, and I’m going to do everything in my power to deliver a winning team in Rome,” he said.
Then he took the Saudi money.
Now, the European team is forced to start over to find a team leader as it seeks to regain the cup won in dominating fashion by the Americans last year at Whistling Straits. While the American side has been impacted by LIV, the European side has been reshaped.
A committee that includes past captains Thomas Björn, Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, along with DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley and David Howell, chairman of the tour’s tournament committee, is now tasked with finding a replacement.
It’s possible, perhaps likely, that Björn or Harrington will step in for Stenson. Björn led a victorious European team in Paris in 2019 and while it was clear that Harrington’s 2021 squad was overmatched against the Americans, he has remained connected within the game. It would, however, impact his playing career which is now built around the PGA Tour Champions.
“I certainly empathize with anybody that makes the decisions that they have made in terms of going to play a new tour, the financial incentives are quite impressive,” Harrington said Wednesday.
“I do think it’s different in Henrik’s case, yes. He signed a contract not to do that and was specifically asked not to do that … I have no empathy there. No, he took the Ryder Cup job when LIV was in doubt, and now that LIV is pretty much mainstream normalized, he’s jumped ship. …
“Financially, being a Ryder Cup captain in Europe is very lucrative. Clearly, it’s financially better to go over to LIV. But sometimes when you sign up for something, you have to accept that you made the decision at the time and you’ve got to stick to it. In that sense, he signed to say he wouldn’t do it.”
Stenson, 46, of Sweden, compiled a 10-7-2 record in five Ryder Cups for the Europeans. He won 11 times on the European Tour, including the 2016 Open Championship, and five more times on the PGA Tour.
Another name mentioned before Stenson’s appointment is Luke Donald. It’s unclear whether Donald is interested, but he would be an interesting choice for Europe. Donald might prefer to get the full two years as captain if he were to wait until the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
Among the challenges facing the next European captain is developing a younger team. At Whistling Straits, the average age of the European players was almost 35 while the Americans were, on average, about nine years younger.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Stenson acknowledged his move to LIV was financially motivated while suggesting he would like to continue to play on the PGA and DP World tours, something that’s unlikely to happen any time soon.
Stenson invoked the “growing the game” message in announcing his jump – it’s part of the LIV Golf talking points – and said he had hoped to continue as Ryder Cup captain, having made arrangements with LIV officials to do that.
He could have kept his captaincy by making a different choice.
“While I disagree with this decision, for now it is a decision I accept,” Stenson said in his statement.
“I sincerely hope a resolution between the tours and its members is reached soon and the Ryder Cup can act as a mechanism for repair amongst various golfing bodies and their members.”
For the moment, that day seems a long way off.