Golf

Henrik Stenson stripped of Ryder Cup captaincy with LIV deal imminent

45-year-old Swede has reportedly agreed a deal with LIV valued at up to $40m

Henrik Stenson's tenure as Europe captain for next year's Ryder Cup has been brought to an end with immediate effect, Ryder Cup Europe has announced. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
Henrik Stenson's tenure as Europe captain for next year's Ryder Cup has been brought to an end with immediate effect, Ryder Cup Europe has announced. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
Pail MacInnes
Wed Jul 20 2022 - 12:47

Henrik Stenson has been removed as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, it has been confirmed, with news of his addition to the LIV Golf roster expected imminently.

Stenson had been set to become the first ever Swedish captain of team Europe next year, when the Ryder Cup is due to take place in Rome. A role considered perhaps the most prestigious in the sport, it is famously unpaid.

The 45-year-old, who missed the cut at last week’s Open in St Andrews, has reportedly since agreed a deal with LIV, the Saudi breakaway tournament, valued at up to $40 million. It is understood that his Ryder Cup contract included a clause which would forbid Stenson from playing in the breakaway tournament.

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“In light of decisions made by Henrik in relation to his personal circumstances,” Ryder Cup Europe said in a statement, “it has become clear that he will not be able to fulfil certain contractual obligations to Ryder Cup Europe that he had committed to prior to his announcement as captain on Tuesday 15 March, 2022, and it is therefore not possible for him to continue in the role of captain.”

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On Wednesday LIV Golf announced the names of 45 of the 48 players who will compete at its upcoming event at Donald Trump’s golf course in New Jersey. Speculation has suggested that Stenson will soon be added to that list, alongside the former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama as well as the six-times Major champion Phil Mickelson, former world No 1s Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka and the former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

Stenson, the 2016 Open champion who helped Europe to victory in three of his five Ryder Cup appearances as a player, including the last home tournament at Le Golf National in 2018, agreed to become Ryder Cup captain in March of this year. The 46-year-old Swede was also vice-captain to Pádraig Harrington at Whistling Straits last year and had been tasked with regaining the trophy following Europe’s record 19-9 defeat to the United States team in Wisconsin.

In a press event, he described the competition as “sport at its very best” and said: “When I started out as a professional golfer it was beyond my wildest dreams that one day I would follow in the footsteps of legends of the game like Seve [Ballesteros] and be European Ryder Cup captain.

“I am fully committed to the captaincy and to Ryder Cup Europe and the job at hand,” he said at the time. “So we’re going to keep busy with that and I’m going to do everything in my power to deliver a winning team in Rome.”

The former European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie said Stenson’s sacking was “a sad day for European golf”. Montgomerie, preparing for the Senior Open at Gleneagles, told The Scotsman: “It is a very sad day for European golf.”

The Scot, who guided Europe to victory at Celtic Manor in 2010, added on Sky Sports: “It is the greatest honour which can be bestowed on any European Tour player, captain of the Ryder Cup team. It is a shame it has even come to this position.”

Another former captain, Paul McGinley, was slightly more sympathetic to the three-time Ryder Cup winner. “I’m sure this was not an easy decision for him but ultimately he has made that decision,” McGinley, the winning captain at Gleneagles in 2014, added in The Scotsman.

“It’s something that disappoints me but I can understand. I’m not going to come down on any of the guys who have gone to LIV. They’ve been offered huge amounts of money. For Henrik, it’s life-changing at this stage of his career. It’s unlikely he is ever going to earn that kind of money going forward so I can understand.

“I’m sure he’s not going to come out of this looking good, but that is for others to judge, not me. But this is incredibly disappointing for the Ryder Cup.”

While a decision on his replacement has not yet been made, the European team have a number of options, with former captain Thomas Bjorn, who led them to victory in Paris in 2018, already on the team after Stenson selected him as his first vice-captain. Promoting him back to the top job would seem the most straightforward option, with the event only 14 months away.

The Italian Edoardo Molinari, who, alongside his brother Francesco, was part of the victorious 2010 at Celtic Manor in Wales, is also a vice-captain, but it would seem too big a step at this stage for him to take over. Luke Donald, who was pipped to the appointment by Stenson, is another option.

The Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome will next host the biennial event starting in late September next year. – Guardian