LIV Golf Star Ian Poulter Might Boycott Ryder Cup Even If He Qualifies

Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia

Getty Image / Charlie Crowhurst


LIV Golf star Ian Poulter holds a stellar career record for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup. He is undefeated in singles matches and has only lost 6 of 22 matches he’s been featured in.

It remains to be seen if LIV Golf Tour members will be invited by the Ryder Cup to compete. Henrik Stenson was already stripped of his captaincy after he joined the LIV Golf Tour. But it’s quite possible we could see LIV Tour members competing in the 2023 Ryder Cup outside of Rome.

LIV Golf’s first tour event of 2023 will run from February 24-26. That Invitational will be held at the El Camaleón Golf Course at Mayakoba in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Ian Poulter is 1 of 11 LIV Tour golfers who is using this week’s Abu Dhabi Championship on the DP World Tour as a tune-up for the upcoming LIV Golf Invitational Mayakoba. And Poulter has already made headlines after suggesting he might boycott the Ryder Cup even if he qualifies due to his rift with Rory McIlroy.

Poulter was asked about Ryder Cup qualification and said “I would love to qualify, whether I play or not would be a different thing.”

Ian Poulter added “We’ll see. I certainly don’t expect to get one of the six (captain’s) picks. Not in any way shape or form. Which is also a shame. What does that tell you? I don’t know where my head is with that. It (the Ryder Cup) is the only thing that has mattered to me for 20 years and when you feel like things change you might feel a little differently.”

It was just last week that Ian Poulter was raging at the European Ryder Cup on Twitter. This came after they didn’t wish Sergio Garcia a happy birthday. Poulter mentioned these ‘boiling over’ moments.

He said “I’m not in the pro-am tomorrow. I don’t know if they will put me on telly. But that doesn’t bother me any more. 2022 was full of big distractions and my full focus for 2023 is to have as little distraction as possible, play good golf and enjoy myself.”

Poulter added “it’s been a difficult 2022 with everything that is out there in the public domain. And as frustrating as that is for me – when I feel that some of it is really unjust – it has been easy to let things boil over inside. Because the whole story has not quite been told. Whether that is my fault, or of yours, or of theirs, it doesn’t matter. What matters to me more than anything else is that I’m 47 and I just want to play golf and enjoy myself.”

That last line of just wanting to ‘play golf and enjoy’ life is familiar. It was brought up last week on The Joe Rogan Experience.

Andrew Santino makes valid points. He acknowledges how some of the younger guys on the PGA Tour didn’t like the antiquated nature of the sport and wanted something with “more freedom and fun” so they jumped ship.

There’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever. Everyone should seek new opportunities in life if they’re dissatisfied and in a place to seek out change.

Criticism surrounding the LIV Golf Tour, however, is that it’s Saudi funded. Rogan asks “what’s the big controversy? It’s Saudi money.”

It’s at this point that Andrew Santino discusses how much Saudi Arabian money touches. He asks them to Google ‘Saudi money LPGA’ and goes on to say the “investment of the Saudis isn’t a new thing in American sports.”

Santino says “the PGA in particular is mad because they look (are) looking something in the face that’s threatening them.” He then acknowledges that LIV Golf will never be bigger than the PGA Tour, calling it “an alternatives that’s fun (and) people like it.”

Joe Rogan chimes in with “what people are concerned with is that people (golfers) are leaving. And they’re going to work for someone that’s being accused of some horrific s–t.”

Santino counters with “sure, but who made your jeans?” Joe Rogan wants everyone to know he is wearing American-made jeans. They then come to mutual ground by agreeing that most people are lodging complaints about the state of things and making those complaints on a “device that was literally made by slaves.”

It’s at this point that Joe Rogan brings up how “WWE fans are freaking out” after rumors that Saudi Backed money is going to purchase WWE. After that, they discuss how players wanted a change. Rogan points out the anger over Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder. Then they turn to a discussion about capitalism and consequences.

For anyone wondering what the Saudi operated Public Investment Fund has invested in, it’s not hard to find. You can just peruse the Wiki page for an overview if you’re bored.

Investments obviously include the LIV Golf Tour but also Capcom, Nexon, Boeing, Facebook/Meta, Citigroup, Disney, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, BP, Uber, and others.