“They have moved on” - Nick Faldo brushes off LIV Golfers' absence at Ryder Cup as he sings praises for Team Europe
Nick Faldo doesn't believe that the Ryder Cup team is missing anything, despite the absence of players who defected to LIV Golf. The European team does not have a single member of the rebel tour, while just one LIV star made it onto the American side.
Faldo is of course referring to former Europe standout Sergio Garcia. There are other LIV players who could also have made it, but Garcia used to be a staple of the team but was left off the roster this time.
Faldo said via Golf Monthly:
"These guys have moved on. I think we have one of the strongest teams we have ever had. Those guys have left the tour and are in a different world now. They have not supported the tour, they are done. The game has moved on and the team has moved on."
"The Europe team is fantastic. I don't think they could do anything better. They have a big backbone and guys who have been around before."
Faldo added that the golfers knew what they were doing the money they were getting and what would come of it. He believes they did the math and realized that the money was worth being left off the Ryder Cup and being shunned by much of the world.
He continued:
"I think they are done with Europe. I don't think they should be let back in to represent Europe because what happened at that particular time was damaging to the European Tour."
Garcia was just 19 when he made his debut for Europe in 1999 and picked up 3.5 points. Since then, he has been a player in every Cup except for the 2010 Ryder Cup. That year, he took a break following poor form, but he was a vice-captain.
Nick Faldo said that former stalwarts Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, among others, cost themselves a chance at being a captain in the future. The former golfer believes they could have been chosen but won't now.
Nick Faldo doesn't regret missing LIV players on Team Europe
Henrik Stenson was the captain before he defected to LIV, and now he's left off as well. He believes that while the Europeans had several captains in line who likely won't be nominated now, there are options. He thinks Luke Donald will get another turn.
This is, of course, dependent on how the European team performs, but Nick Faldo is confident in that as well. He said:
"I think we have some secret rookies up our sleeve, that is very powerful if you don't know a lot about a player, they are dangerous."
He'd be referring to Nicolai Hojgaard and his new counterparts, who have not been in a Ryder Cup before. Their lack of experience could actually help in head-to-head scenarios since they are such an unknown commodity.
The Ryder Cup begins in a little over a week, starting on September 29 and ending on October 1.