Rory McIlroy fires dig at LIV’s Henrik Stenson over Ryder Cup sacking

Rory McIlroy wants a Ryder Cup rules change to accommodate one LIV golfer in 2025 – but he certainly has no regrets about the missing stalwarts from this year’s match in Rome.

Responding to news of Jon Rahm’s move to LIV Golf this week, McIlroy claimed that  “the European tour is going to have to rewrite the rules for Ryder Cup eligibility” to make sure the Spaniard is playing at Bethpage Black in two years’ time.

However, McIlroy does not miss any other player associated with LIV in the Team Europe locker room.

• Rory McIlroy calls for Ryder Cup change after Rahm’s LIV move

• Tour winner “won’t follow” Rahm’s LIV Golf progress

He reiterated that stance on X this week when clarifying his differing reaction to Rahm joining the Saudi-backed league in contrast to the likes of Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood.

“We didn’t NEED any of the others in Rome and we didn’t miss them,” he wrote. “We’d certainly miss and need Jon at Bethpage.”

The best thing to happen to the 2023 Euro Ryder cup team was Henrik going to LIV!

— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) December 9, 2023

And now the Northern Irishman has taken a shot at Henrik Stenson, the man who had the European captaincy stripped off him because of his defection to LIV in 2022.

Golf data man Lou Stagner tweeted an apparent tongue-in-cheek question on Saturday night, writing: “I wonder if @McIlroyRory also wants to change the rules so Stenson can captain the team?”

McIlroy’s reply was savage. “The best thing to happen to the 2023 Euro Ryder Cup team was Henrik going to LIV,” the Northern Irishman said.

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Luke Donald replaced Stenson with 14 months to go until the joust at Marco Simone and masterminded a famous 16.5-11.5 victory over the US.

He has already been made repeat captain at Bethpage, while Stenson expressed disappointment that he was not given his chance.

“I’m just disappointed with everything that came out because there was a big willingness on my part to sit down and talk long before this thing got to where it got to,” the Swede said after this year’s Open.

“There were certain people, without naming names, that didn’t want to sit down and take those meetings. As a consequence, I feel like we ended up in all of this that could have been avoided. But we live, and we learn.”

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.