Ian Poulter has revealed he hopes to one day return to the European Ryder Cup setup as a captain, with the LIV Golf star encouraging the ongoing dispute in men's professional golf to come to an end.
Since its formation in 2022, LIV has found itself at battle with both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. The former instantly banned players who teed it up on the LIV setup, with the latter taking similar action later after winning an arbitration case in 2023.
This allowed the DP World Tour to both fine and suspend its members who were competing in 'conflicting' events on the breakaway circuit, which led to a mass exodus of players from its membership list.
Included on the resignation list was Poulter, alongside fellow stalwarts, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, and Henrik Stenson, in a bid to avoid further punishment. Their decision to walk away did come with some consequences though, as this saw them give up their Ryder Cup eligibility.
Poulter had been noted as a shoo-in to become a future Ryder Cup captain prior to his LIV loyalties. For now, the Englishman has been frozen out of the European setup, but this has not stopped him from setting his sights on making a potential return, calling for a truce between the rival tours.
"It’s been a huge part of my golfing life, some of the proudest moments of my career," Poulter told Al Arabiya English of the Ryder Cup. "I’m hopeful one day there’s a sense of coming together that would enable the likes of myself… the opportunity to be able to become captain.
"Let’s see what happens, there’s going to need to be some compromise. I'm hopeful one day we’ll see it." As mentioned, all players wanting to be involved in the European Ryder Cup fold must be members of the DP World Tour, settle any remaining fines, and compete in a minimum of four events a year on the Wentworth-based circuit.
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Poulter conceded this makes it hard for his fellow LIV members to have any inclusion with Luke Donald's team. "The rules that have been set in place are difficult - there’s no compromise," he added. "I think everyone is aware that players need to play their minimum amount on the European tour to be able to be eligible to play.
"It’s difficult for me personally - I find myself in a tricky position, where I’m not a member, and I obviously can’t become eligible to be part of a team or even help out as a Vice Captain or Captain unless I do become a member again. It’s not the best scenario, but it’s one that the tour is sticking to."
On Monday it was revealed by Sports Illustrated that LIV had approached the DP World Tour this summer over coming to some sort of peace deal that would allow its players to compete freely on the European circuit. The compromise - which included a financial settlement from the Saudi-backed league - was turned down by the DP World Tour.
Mirror Sports has since learned that the DP World Tour was unwilling to compromise with the LIV setup, having already set out its stall on the matter by implementing its previous sanctions.
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