LIV Golf pro slams European Ryder Cup changes: "Another nail in the coffin"

LIV Golf pro Richard Bland says the Ryder Cup is 'just another PGA Tour event' after Europe overhauled their qualification process. 

A single qualifying list will decide who represents the blue and gold at the biennial dust-up in New York next September. 

Previously, the team was selected via a world points list and a European points list, but officials at Wentworth HQ have abandoned that format. 

Under the new changes, European captain Luke Donald will still have six captain's picks. 

But some golf fans and analysts have suggested that the new system favours American play over the Old World circuit. 

Bland told GolfMagic: "It's almost like another nail in the coffin the for the DP World Tour by the sounds of it. 

"It's sad. I think it's sad. I understand strength plays in America, but we're also giving our strength to America, you know?

"I have made no secret that I wasn't a fan of giving your 10 best players every single year to a rival tour. 

"It is what it is. I didn't make that decision."

Bland was referring to the fact the top-10 players in the Race to Dubai receive PGA Tour cards. 

It's a controversial topic and one that former European Tour Group chief executive Keith Pelley vehemently defended. 

Before he upped sticks and returned to Canada, Pelley made it clear that the Tour was just formalising a pathway that always existed. 

Others, such as Bland, appear unconvinced. 

"It [the changes] just says that anyone playing full-time DP World Tour [events] can't play in the Ryder Cup - you can't make it.

"The world rankings have gone that way, and now the Ryder Cup is going that way."

He added: "You look at the Presidents Cup and you've got someone like Foxy [Ryan Fox] who was second [in the rankings] on the DP World Tour two years ago and he can't play. 

"I mean, really?

"It just seems like it's another PGA Tour event, the Ryder Cup is just another PGA Tour event just as the Presidents Cup is. 

"It doesn't say much for the guys that are up-and-coming in the game [trying to play Ryder Cup and being told] you can't do it from Europe. 

"You've only got to look at the world rankings - how many guys in the DP World Tour are in the top 100 in the world? Two, maybe?

"Trust me they are nowhere near 50th. 

"I think it's a sad day for the DP World guys." 

LIV Golf players are technically still eligible to play in the Ryder Cup so long as they don't surrender their DP World Tour membership and play in a minimum of four events. 

That is good news for the likes of former world number one Jon Rahm and his LIV teammate Tyrrell Hatton. 

Both players played key roles in helping Team Europe defeat the red, white and blue last September in Italy at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. 

When Rahm and Hatton decided to join the breakaway tour their Ryder Cup futures were unclear. 

Hatton has already confirmed he will play DP World Tour events after the conclusion of LIV's third season. 

Rahm, too, wants to play DP World Tour events later in the year. 

But complications with his wife Kelley's third pregnancy may prevent him from doing so, he said. 

The qualification process for the 2025 European Ryder Cup team will begin at the British Masters, hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry, later this month and ends in August next year. 

The 2025 Ryder Cup will take place at Bethpage Black over 26-28 September. 

Bland was speaking to GolfMagic ahead of the International Series event in England on the Asian Tour. 

The Englishman has been handed a tee time of 11.50am on Thursday at Foxhills alongside Thomas Pieters and Jason Kokrak. 

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