When Paul McGinley expands on a topic, the ideas are expressed robustly and concisely. On the toxic row that has engulfed golf over the past year, he goes to great lengths to insist that his opinion be given without fear or favour.
As a result, while the LIV Tour has jeopardized the Irishman’s friendship with some of his fellow Ryder Cup legends, his strong opposition to their return to the European Tour remains strictly business, he insists.
“You know, in all likelihood I went to LIV at 46, 47,” admits McGinley, 56, from his Florida home. “If I was offered $20 to $30 million to play in a rival league, I would have done it.
“But I wouldn’t have done the LIV Tour and then come back and play the European Tour as well. I find that greedy. You cannot sit on both buses. As great as those players were from the Ryder Cups, as great as they were for the European Tour and, you know, they’re personal friends of mine, I have a disagreement with them.’
McGinley, the veteran of six Ryder Cups, three as a player, one as captain and two vice-captains, talks about players like Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, one of the most prominent LIV recruits who lost a recent court case demanding that they at their own discretion may participate in the European DP World Tour. Instead, the tour can now determine the terms of their return.
Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley (pictured) thinks it’s selfish of players to switch between LIV and the European tour
Players like Lee Westwood (second from left) and Ian Poulter (second from right) decided to join the LIV Tour
Poulter (pictured) was one of the big names to leave the European Tour in favor of the big money LIV
McGinley was relieved by the outcome of the arbitration case, which was heard by a panel of Sports Resolutions in London two weeks ago. He says it will provide the European Tour with significant leverage in seeking a solution with LIV players going forward.
He also points to the increased opportunities for Challenge Tour players, especially the next generation, who would otherwise have been denied tournament seats by returning rebels.
It still hurts him that they went so far as to sue the tour in an attempt to play it. For would-be Ryder Cup captains like Poulter, McGinley believes such apparent aggression should see them banned from the tournament for the foreseeable future, regardless of the Englishman’s celebrated contribution to the event.
‘Next to Seve [Ballesteros], he has probably been the most influential player in Ryder Cups from a European perspective. It is phenomenal what he has done for us. And it’s sad that he probably won’t be captain, or certainly not in the near future. Everyone saw him as a captain in New York.
‘I’m not going to close the door to that, but it’s disappointing now. Big decisions have consequences. And these are big decisions. The Ryder Cup is part property of the European tour.
These guys are involved with an entity that is now financially hurting the European tour. So as far as I’m concerned they have unfortunately withdrawn from the Ryder Cup.’
It irritates him that the Saudis persist in an approach that some consider belligerent and others, such as McGinley, brutal. Their very first event was played in London [the suburbs of Hertfordshire, in fact, at the Centurion Club].
McGinley wants LIV players’ participation in major tournaments ironed out
‘It was played in the heart of the European tour. Now they’ve put Valderrama, an iconic Ryder Cup venue, on their schedule, that’s competitive. They behave in a very aggressive manner and the European tour has a right to protect their business.’
McGinley speaks to the Mail on Sunday days after the Masters and in his capacity as a member of the Legends Tour, playing when media commitments allow. Next up for him is the Irish event at the Seapoint links in County Louth right after the US Open.
He is pleased that LIV players, as it stands, continue to participate in the major tournaments and wants their continued participation relaxed. Even if that means relaxing the qualification process that currently awards entry via world ranking points – not available to LIV – and former champions.
McGinley served on the European Tour board for six years until he stepped down last month, a role that put him at the center of negotiations that led to the DP World Tour signing a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour. It was shielding itself from a threat from the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV project that, McGinley says, threatened the very existence of the European tour.
He is angry at having to leave the role, only to quash allegations that it has compromised him as a prominent media pundit paid to comment on the game. “Nobody ever told me what to say on TV,” he says, “and you know what, my point of view is still the same.
McGinley was relieved that the DP World Tour won a recent legal battle against LIV players
McGinley thinks Poulter (left) and Westwood (right) should not play in next Ryder Cup competition
From a European context, we have now lost five events on the European tour to the LIV tour. Why should we welcome them with open arms if they actively remove tournaments from our schedule?’
More personally, he hopes that the stream of abuse he apparently suffers online from LIV supporters will stop when the hostilities are, hopefully, cool. ‘I am [tired],’ he says. “I’m tired of everyone having the opinion that it’s black or white. Relationships are currently stuck.
And I’m all for a compromise sometime in the future. But I know it’s going to take a few years for that to find its way. The important thing now is that the European tour has the leverage to make a compromise that suits them.”
Paul McGinley will play against the Irish Legends at Seapoint Golf Links in June. Visit www.legendstour.com/alliance to find out how to play in the event or to purchase tickets.