Ryder Cup: Rory McIlroy says Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are ‘too far removed’ to be captain candidates

Rory McIlroy believes LIV defectors Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood are too far removed from the current crop of European players to be considered as future Ryder Cup captains.

Poulter and Westwood resigned from the DP World Tour last year to avoid paying fines for switching to LIV.

But Poulter, speaking in an interview with Al Arabiya English,, external said he retained hope he would be able to captain Europe in the future.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy believes the veteran pair’s absence from the European tour – which follows an acrimonious split – makes it impossible for that happen.

“I just think with the current state of where everything is, you need someone that’s around and showing their face as much as they can,” said McIlroy, who has been a leading LIV critic.

“Right now, that honestly just can’t be them because they are elsewhere.”

The emergence of LIV, which is financially supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to the tune of $2bn (£1.6bn), has seen the men’s game riven by disagreement.

In June 2023, the PGA and DP World Tours announced they had a ‘framework agreement’ to merge with PIF.

But a deal to end golf’s civil war has yet to be agreed.