Brooks Koepka and Mickelson reignite Ryder Cup conversation for LIV rebels

T he latest batch of United States Ryder Cup rankings featured interlopers. Brooks Koepka has risen to 16th position. Phil Mickelson sits 20th on the table. Patrick Reed has leaped to 33rd.The performance of LIV golfers at the Masters has reignited the Ryder Cup conversation.

The sense that team Europe will not be materially harmed by defections to the LIV circuit was only endorsed by Jon Rahm’s win at Augusta National. Luke Donald will call on a Masters champion. In Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Matt Fitzpatrick, Donald already has the core of a formidable team. Europe are assisted further by Justin Rose’s return to form, which saw him record a top 20 in the first major of the year. It would already be a surprise if Rose does not book a place on the flight to Rome in September, where he will inevitably be spurred on by being overlooked by Pádraig Harrington in 2021.

Off the course, the European picture is more cloudy. Last week’s confirmation that LIV golfers lost their sporting arbitration case against the DP World Tour places further daylight between Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Ryder Cup backroom roles. It is presently impossible to foresee the English duo back on this scene. Keith Pelley, the chief executive of the DP World Tour, has said Sergio García, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell have already foregone vice-captaincy or captaincy roles on a playing fulfilment technicality. This felt a moot point; bad blood between the tour and so many of those who flipped to the LIV format meant it already felt impossible that everyone could coexist in the biennial clash.

The future of the European captaincy has been thrown up in the air. Gaps created, certainly by Poulter,