PARIS, FRANCE —Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia of Europe celebrate after winning The Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 30, 2018. | Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Ryder Cup discussion, whether or not LIV Tour golfers can compete, have dominated conversations ever since Brooks Koepka became the first LIV golfer to win a major.
Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler have exchanged the title of being the number-one ranked player in the world throughout 2023.
They have also won the last two Masters Tournaments.
And yet, this week, at The Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Rahm and Scheffler share similarities on where they stand about who should participate in the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Following the PGA Championship, where Brooks Koepka became the first LIV golfer to win a major, Scheffler noted that he does “not care about tours or anything like that.”
This week, in his pre-tournament press conference at Muirfield Village, Rahm, who helped Europe win the 2018 Ryder Cup, echoed similar sentiments.
“It’s a little sad that politics have gotten in the way of such a beautiful event,” Rahm admitted. “Again, it’s the best Europeans against the best Americans, period. And whatever is going on, who is playing LIV and who is not playing LIV to me, shouldn’t matter. It’s whoever is best suited to represent the European side.”
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KOHLER, Wisc. — Scottie Scheffler of the United States and Jon Rahm of Europe shake hands on the 15th green after Scheffler defeated Rahm 4&3 during Sunday Singles Matches of the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits on September 26, 2021.
Rahm and Scheffler are not the only ones discussing who should play in the Ryder Cup.
Members of the golf media are too, notably Brandel Chamblee and Brad Faxon, who made waves with their awkward standoff on Live From the PGA Championship.
Of course, Sergio Garcia, who now plays on the Saudi-backed LIV tour, has accumulated more Ryder Cup points than any other player in history.
“I have a hard time [believing] that the best player Europe has ever had,” Rahm added. “The most successful player Europe has had on the Ryder Cup, isn’t fit to be on the team.”
Garcia and Rahm hail from Spain, a country steeped in Ryder Cup tradition.
“I’m going to miss him,” Rahm said of Garcia. “We had a great partnership at Whistling Straights [in 2021]. I’m going to mention history again one more time. A Spanish duo in the Ryder Cup is embedded in the roots of Ryder Cup [history]. Look what Seve [Ballesteros] and [José María Olazábal] were able to do throughout their partnership, right?”
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WARWICKSHIRE, England — Spanish golfers Severiano Ballesteros (l.) and Jose Maria Olazabal (r.) shaking hands during a Ryder Cup match at The Belfry on September 22, 1989. The competition ended in a draw with the European team retaining the Cup.
Ballesteros and Olazábal combined to bring home 43 points for Europe throughout 15 combined Ryder Cups.
Now, Rahm feels LIV golfers should be able to compete in the 2023 Ryder Cup, held at Marco Simone Golf Club outside of Rome, Italy.
Since Rahm knows more golf history than most, perhaps he is worried that the European Ryder Cup team will revert to the days when the Americans dominated year in and year out. That era was before 1979, when only British and Irish golfers competed against those from the United States.
Since continental Europe has participated, the Europeans have won 12 of the last 21 Ryder Cups.
Moreover, the United States has not won a Ryder Cup on European soil since 1993.
Nonetheless, the game’s top players agree that the world’s best should represent their respective sides no matter what tour they play on.
