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Rory McIlroy says the European facet should “rewrite the foundations” for Ryder Cup eligibility after Spain’s reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm jumped ship to LIV Golf.
Saudi-backed LIV pulled off a coup on Thursday when Rahm confirmed weeks of hypothesis by saying he was becoming a member of the circuit in a deal reportedly price a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.
Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia have all been declared ineligible to play for Europe on the Ryder Cup after signing for LIV.
Henrik Stenson was eliminated as captain.
World No 2 McIlroy, a fierce and outspoken opponent of LIV, mentioned Rahm following the opposite gamers to LIV would require the DP World Tour – previously the European Tour – to rethink its stance.
Rahm is a mainstay of the European crew and helped them win the Ryder Cup this yr.
The subsequent Ryder Cup is in Bethpage, New York.
“Jon goes to be in Bethpage in 2025,” Northern Eire’s McIlroy instructed Sky Sports activities on Thursday, after Rahm’s transfer to LIV was confirmed. “So due to this resolution, the European Tour are going to need to rewrite the foundations for Ryder Cup eligibility.
“There’s completely no query about that – I actually need Jon Rahm on the following Ryder Cup crew.”
McIlroy mentioned earlier this yr that no LIV rebels ought to be capable of play for Europe on the Ryder Cup.
Rahm’s transfer comes because the PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of LIV Golf try and finalise the small print of their bombshell merger introduced in June.
A deadline of 31 December has been set to agree on a framework for the brand new PGA-LIV three way partnership.
With Rahm arguably the largest star but to hitch LIV, McIlroy fears that skilled golf is in peril of “cannibalising itself”.
“My concern is that we proceed down this path the place we’ve got competing Excursions and it divides the eyeballs which can be on the sport,” McIlroy mentioned.
WATCH: Why I joined LIV Golf – Rahm
© Agence France-Presse
Photograph: Patrick Smith/Getty Photos
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