Rory McIlroy responds to Poulter’s Ryder Cup captaincy claim

Rory McIlroy has responded to Ian Poulter revealing that he still harbours hopes of one day captaining Europe’s Ryder Cup side.

Poulter, 48, was once a shoo-in to lead the side but resigned his DP World Tour membership in 2023 amid ongoing friction in the men’s game, thereby making himself ineligible from any future involvement in the biennial dust-up.

Under current DP World Tour regulations, any member who fails to comply with the minimum counting tournament regulation in any one official season or who does not take up ‘ranked membership’ in an official season in which he is so eligible – in other words, falls out of membership – is ineligible thereafter to be selected as the European Ryder Cup captain or vice captain.

However, speaking to Al Arabiya English, Poulter outlined his hope that a “sense of coming together” between professional men’s golf feuding factions would give him “the opportunity to be able to become captain” of a side he represented seven times between 2004 and 2021.

Speaking ahead of this week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, McIlroy was asked for his take on Poulter’s comments.

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“I think it’s hard, because we don’t really see them [LIV players] any more,” said the world No.3. “You need someone you’re comfortable around.

“You look at what Luke [Donald] has done the last few years. He’s really made an effort to come over. He played in Czech Republic, you know, he was in Switzerland. He’s making an effort to be around the players and makethe players feel comfortable with and the up-and-comers that haven’t had a chance to be on the team yet or trying to make a team.

“And with the guys that that left – Poulter, Westwood – how can these young up–and–comers build a rapport with them when they’re never here, when you can’t see them? I think that’s a really important part of of a Ryder Cup and a Ryder Cup captaincy.”

He added: “I’m not saying that Poulter doesn’t have the credentials to be a Ryder Cup captain, but 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. Right now, that honestly just can’t be them because they’re elsewhere.”

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Pressed on whether or not he would have any personal objections to a LIV-based player captaining Europe, McIlroy described it as “a grey area”, adding: “There’s some that I would be okay with, and there are others I wouldn’t be okay with.”

McIlroy comes into this week off the back of a disappointing near-miss in last week’s Amgen Irish Open and admitted that he is happy for the opportunity to “get back on the horse again” despite being hampered by a virus he picked up from his daughter.

“Poppy’s had a cough for a couple of weeks and gave it to me last week,” he said. “I started feeling pretty rough Monday, Tuesday, and went to the doctor for a course of antibiotics. Energy-wise, I feel better than I did yesterday. I’ll be a bit wheezy this week, but nothing I can can’t handle.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor