Justin Rose is The Voice of Reason Once Again

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

It came as no surprise that with Europe’s Ryder Cup qualification process now well under way for 2025 that it should dominate the thoughts of many players at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

And, of course, that meant LIV Golf was back in the limelight.

In the week that the PGA of America announced that LIV golfers would be eligible to play for the USA at Bethpage next year, one of the most sensible arguments came from Justin Rose.

I have long admired this man - after finishing joint fourth at The Open at Royal Birkdale as a 17-year-old amateur he turned professional and endured a miserable run of 21 successive missed cuts. He could have walked away but he stuck at it and has now won more PGA Tour titles than any other Englishman in history, as well as claiming the US Open.

He has also dug into his own pocket to finance women’s golf in Britain.

And after a period in the doldrums on the course he has re-emerged as one of the world’s leading players. He finished tied sixth at the 2024 US PGA and tied second at The Open behind Xander Schauffele at Royal Troon.

Rose loves the Ryder Cup and everything it stands for, having played in the event on six occasions, finishing on the winning side four times. He knows the importance of the event and what it stands for.

You will probably know that LIV rebels Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are eligible to play in DP World Tour events after appealing against the fines and suspensions imposed upon them for joining LIV. These appeals will not be heard until some time in 2025, possibly even after the Ryder Cup.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

As you would expect, Rose has a common sense approach to the issue. It is quite clear that Europe will have a stronger team if Rahm and Hatton are among their number. But it also stands to reason that there may be more than a little resentment towards the pair from some of their fellow players - and most especially from anybody who misses out as a result of their inclusion.

Rose’s solution? He has told both of them to pay the fines. 

He said: "There's quite a simple pathway for them to be on the team. So I don't think it's going to come down to their own personal decisions but if they choose to cooperate or go with the structure that's in place, they'll absolutely be on the team. That's the way I see it, really, to be honest with you."

You may recall that Rahm and Hatton formed a wonderful partnership as Europe thrashed the USA in Italy last year.

It is not as if the pair cannot afford to pay the fines. Rahm received a joining fee that is anything from $300m to $500m, depending upon which source you believe. On top of the that, he did not once finish outside the top 10 in any of LIV’s events in 2024 and finished top of their money list with a cool $34.8m. Paying the fines to the DP World Tour would amount to little more than small change for the Spaniard, who has entered the Open de Espana, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and Andalucia Masters. Two of those tournaments will be played in his homeland and it would be a major surprise if he does not contend in both and then goes on to take part in the playoff events at the end of the season. It is even possible that he could still win the Race to Dubai if results go his way. And how ridiiculous would that be if it should happen and he is engaged in what amounts to a legal battle with the DP World Tour.

And speaking of ridiculous, we have been hearing noises from Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, hinting that neither has given up on their dream of captaining Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

I do sometimes wonder what planet some sportsmen live on.

Yes, it is true that both men were wonderful servants to the European cause in the Ryder Cup but they made their beds when they opted to join LIV Golf. Henrik Stenson should have been the man who led Europe at Marco Simone GC in 2023 but was rightly stripped of the job when he too threw in his lot with LIV. And can anybody honestly say that he would have done a better job than Luke Donald, the man who succeeded him, and a golfer who has steadfastly remained loyal to both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour? I don’t think so.

You may not have been surprised to learn that Rory McIlroy had some opinions on Poulter and Westwood, and I agree with every word he said.

Poulter and Westwood resigned from the DP World Tour last year to avoid paying fines for switching to LIV.

But Poulter has now said he retains hope that he will be able to captain Europe in the future

McIlroy believes that cannot and should not happen. He said: "I just think with the current state of where everything is, you need someone that's around and showing their face as much as they can," said McIlroy, who has been a leading LIV critic Right now, that honestly just can't be them because they are elsewhere.

Poulter helped Europe win the Ryder Cup five times and was an integral part of the 'Miracle at Medinah', playing an instrumental part in his team's extraordinary fightback in 2012. Westwood has played in 11 Ryder Cups - a joint record for Europe alongside Bernhard Langer - and has also expressed his ambitions of captaining the team.

McIlroy continued: "Look at what Luke has done the last few years - he's really made an effort to come over [from the United States]. He played [on the European tour] in the Czech Republic. He was in Switzerland. He's making an effort to be around the players and make the players feel comfortable with him - the up-and-comers that haven't had a chance yet to be on a team or trying to make a team."

Well said Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose. Of course we all want to see Europen triumph on American soil in 2025, but not at any cost.