Billy Foster: LIV trio ‘should be next three Ryder Cup captains’

There are not many people better placed to discuss the Ryder Cup fallout between the European Tour and LIV Golf than Billy Foster.

The veteran caddie will fly to Rome with Matt Fitzpatrick in September for what will be his 16th appearance – in one capacity or another – at the biennial competition since his first at Muirfield Village in 1987.

Aside from 2012, which he missed through injury, Foster has been an ever present at every Ryder Cup where each of Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia have pulled on the yellow and blue – but with the legendary trio ruled out since defecting to LIV Golf, their future in the competition remains uncertain.

But while Foster insists they should not have been banned, he also believes it’s time for us to all move on.

“It’s a changing of the guard,” Foster tells bunkered from his Yorkshire home, “They have been fantastic players, but you can’t rely on Westy because he’s done 11 Ryder Cups and he’s 50.

“Poulter is 47 and his best days are behind him – and he can’t keep dining out on what he did 12 years ago in Medinah – those days are gone. Players evolve and players start slowing down, that’s just the way it is.

“Maybe Sergio would be in the team, but that would be about it, really, so I don’t think we’re going to really miss him on that front.”

He adds: “Would I ban them? Personally, no, I wouldn’t, because for what they’ve done for the Ryder Cup and the records they’ve got – Sergio is Europe’s record points scorer, Westy is fifth, and Poulter’s played seven Ryder Cups and has never been beaten in singles.

“What they bring to that locker room is immense, and I wouldn’t have banned them because they should be the next three Ryder Cup captains – and are they going to be that now? Probably not, which is which is a shame because what they’ve done in the Ryder Cup is now tarnished for doing what was right for them. Let’s face it, you can’t blame them for playing less golf for more money.

“Everybody has opinions, but would they gel in the locker room with the new breed of players? I don’t know, but certainly from a personal point of view, I’d love to see them still be involved and I’d love to see them be the next three captains.

“Whether that happens is down to the powers that be.”

Foster was on Fitzpatrick’s bag at Whistling Straits in 2021, as the visitors suffered their heaviest defeat in the Europe vs USA era. So is the Yorkshireman worried about a period of American domination?

“I always want to give a straight answer,” he says, before pausing briefly. “Yes, it’s going to be very difficult.

“I’ve been very fortunate to do 35 years of Ryder Cups and it’s been during the best ever time for European golf. They’ve had many great wins, but the worm’s turning and the Americans are by far the stronger team at the minute.

“The last Ryder Cup was the changing of an era. The European Tour is not in great shape at the moment and it could be years before we get another dominant European team. We’ve got a handful of strong European players, but as far as a depth of 12 players, it’s not what it was. They’re losing some immense players – Westwood, Poulter, Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Henrik Stenson – and these shoes have to be filled.

“The Americans are so strong from one to 12 and the next couple of Ryder Cups will be difficult. But it’s a home game and the crowd will be behind them, some players might find form, some will be off it, they might get some young guys coming through, but maybe it’s a bit too soon.

“So let’s look forward to two years’ time and it could be a completely different playing field and we might have discovered another two or three brilliant European players. It can change quickly. Very quickly.”

• Phil Mickelson: LIV golfers warrant Ryder Cup picks

• ‘You’ll be irrelevant’: Ryder Cup legend tears into LIV stars

Billy Foster’s Ryder Cup record

Since his first Ryder Cup on the bag for Gordon Brand Jr in 1987, Foster has only missed the 1995 and 2012 editions – the latter through injury. He was the competition’s Caddie Master in 2008, but stepped in for Soren Hansen in the Sunday singles, and he was invited by 2018 captain Thomas Bjorn to be part of his backroom team in Paris.

1987: Gordon Brand Jr
1989: Gordon Brand Jr
1991: Seve Ballesteros (pictured)
1993: Seve Ballesteros
1997: Darren Clarke
1999: Darren Clarke
2002: Darren Clarke
2004: Darren Clarke
2006: Darren Clarke
2008: Caddie Master (Soren Hansen in singles)
2010: Lee Westwood
2014: Lee Westwood
2016: Lee Westwood
2018: Backroom team
2021: Matt Fitzpatrick

Want more?

You can read more from Billy Foster’s time at the Ryder Cup, including his favourite Seve Ballesteros story and his perspective on that emotional week alongside Darren Clarke in 2006, in issue 205 of bunkered magazine, on sale from September 6.

Billy Foster was talking to bunkered as an ambassador for Motocaddy. Visit the Motocaddy website for more – or watch our gear expert’s reviews over on our YouTube channel.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor