Colin Montgomerie weighs in on DP World Tour resignations

Colin Montgomerie insists the Ryder Cup greats who joined LIV Golf chose money over legacy and knew the consequences of their defection to the Saudi-backed league.

Montgomerie told Golfweek that Ryder Cup stalwarts Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia ultimately forgave their chances to ever captain Europe in the biennial contest when signing for the LIV enterprise.

The decorated trio will now have no further involvement in future Ryder Cups after resigning their DP World Tour memberships alongside fellow LIV player Richard Bland.

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Westwood, Poulter and Garcia handed in their cards amid threats of further punishment after the former European Tour’s sanctions for playing in the opening LIV event in Hemel Hempstead last year were upheld by a sports arbitration panel.

This September’s showdown with the USA will be the first since 1995 that does not feature any of the trio, who have played in 28 Ryder Cups between them.

They are also ineligible to captain or vice-captain in any match after each being shoo-ins for the role before their LIV move.

But 2010 winning skipper Montgomerie has no sympathy, telling Golfweek’s Adam Shupak that it is “not feasible legally” for them to ever captain Team Europe.

“They’ve got to resign the memberships now or pay a heavy fine,” he said. “So you got to be a member of the tour to be a Ryder Cup captain.

“They knew the consequences of joining in the first place, they knew that this might take place depending on what went on in the courts. And it favoured the European Tour so it’s gone against them that way.

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“They knew the consequences – money against legacy, in many ways and they chose the former and hey, good luck to them but you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

“You can’t expect to do that and then lobby Ryder Cup captain this week and I’ll go to LIV the next week. It doesn’t work that way.

“You know you pay your penalties. It is a shame we’ve lost a few good captains in Henrik, Westwood, Graeme McDowell, probably, you know, but at the same time, there’s more opportunity for others to take their place.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.