While LIV players look forward to their first event of the year at Mayakoba in just four weeks’ time, the ex-European Tour players have been told by Sir Nick Faldo that as far as this year’s Ryder Cup is concerned, “they’re done.”

There is very little love lost between the 1996 Masters 1-2 these days.

In a week that has seen reports of reduced offers for new signings, the ‘unofficial’ tour has also witnessed increased momentum behind the TGL tour, with Collin Morikawa joining fellow major champions Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas in the technology-led midweek league in 2024.

Led by the fiercely anti-LIV Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, the two-time major champion may have been having a side-swipe at the Saudi-backed league when stating in his press release that:

“I think the design of TGL to provide sports fans the world’s best in a weekly, primetime golf competition, from start-to-end in only two hours, will appeal to a broader spectrum of casual golf fans and introduce our sport to younger fans.”

Barring injury, McIlroy, Morikawa, JT and Rahm are certain to be facing each other at the Marco Simone club later this year, but whilst Faldo may be uncertain about who will be in the team, he is very clear about who should be missing.

Players that have made a huge impression in recent Ryder Cups — Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell — have all made the decision to join LIV over the past year, something Faldo says makes the result easy:

“They shouldn’t be there because they’ve gone off and you’ve got to move on,” Faldo said when interviewed on Sky Sports News.

The 11-time Ryder Cup player and retired broadcaster admitted that age is certainly against them, but with no official ranking or Ryder Cup points awarded to LIV results, it is also going to be virtually impossible for any of the previous stalwarts to re-appear in Italy.

That is, of course, all subject to the result of an upcoming hearing, challenging any ban by the PGA Tour and restrictions by the DP World Tour.

With LIV player Henrik Stenson — the original European team captain — sacked within three months of being appointed, Luke Donald knows that he needs to choose wisely when it comes to his six free picks, and Faldo suggests this is the time to bank of the rookies:

“They’re [European LIV players] all at the age where Europe needs to find a new breed of 25-year-olds that can play half a dozen or more Ryder Cups, and I think we’re going to have that.”

“They’re done,” he said confidently, before continuing: “It’s a rival tour. If you work for a company for 20 years and you then leave to go to a rival company, I can promise you your picture won’t still be on the wall. You’ve moved on. Fine, off you go.”

“They made that decision and I’m sure they knew it was going to cost them,” Faldo said. “They were playing the maths game. They were getting a huge chunk of money up front, and they knew it was going to lose them sponsors, but they thought ‘I still win’.”

Faldo also commented on the LIV tour in general, offering his thoughts on the organization fronted by Greg Norman, his great rival on the course throughout his career, and against whom he overcame a six-shot deficit to win the 1996 Masters.

“It’s [LIV] a closed shop: 48 guys given loads of money,” Faldo said. “What gripes me is it’s not growing the game of golf. That really gets me when they fly across the world to a country that’s been playing golf for 100 plus years and say, ‘we’re growing the game of golf’.”

Of his great rival, with whom he split eight major titles in a 10 year period from 1986, the 65-year-old said:

“He was a great golfer. He really was a charismatic, exciting golfer and he’s absolutely wrecked all of that.”

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Yesterday, it was reported by boots on the ground that LIV golfer Patrick Reed threw a tee and PGA Tour superstar Rory McIlroy.

Both Reed and McIlroy are playing on the DP World Tour this week at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club. When Reed tried to say hello to Rory on the driving range, he was purportedly ignored.

According to McIlroy in the Independent, he didn’t see a tee thrown in his direction. While speaking with reporters, the four-time major champion clarified his side of the story.

“I didn’t see it,” he said of the tee. “I was down by my bag, and he came up to me, and I was busy working and sort of doing my practice, and I didn’t really feel like — I didn’t feel the need to acknowledge him.

“So, I didn’t see a tee coming my direction at all, but apparently that’s what happened. And if roles were reversed and I’d have of thrown that tee at him, I’d be expecting him a lawsuit.”

When asked if he “ducked” when the tee was thrown, the 33-year-old said he didnt see it: “I didn’t duck,” he said. “I didn’t see, it, no. My back was turned to him.”

The lawsuit reference made by Rory is referring to the defamation lawsuit that Reed has filed against a number of golf media members and outlets. McIlroy is even named a co-conspirator in one of Reed’s lawsuits. Which according to Rory, is why he didn’t feel the need to say hello to Reed in the first place.

“I mean, exactly, right,” he said. “Like that’s — I mean, I got a subpoena on Christmas Eve. I mean, I don’t see your — like you can’t pretend like nothing’s happening, right.

“I think that’s the thing. Like why — we are living in reality here. He’s — no, so…”

“Yeah, I was subpoenaed by his lawyer on Christmas Eve. So of course, trying to have a nice time with my family and someone shows up on your doorstep and delivers that, you’re not going to take that well.

“So again, I’m living in reality, I don’t know where he’s living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t expect a hello or a handshake.”

As for mending bridges with Sergio Garcia, who is eligible for a Ryder Cup wildcard from Luke Donald as an honorary member of the Dp World Tour, McIlroy was clear.

“No,” he said.

The tournament is set to kick off Thursday, January 26th and there appears to be no end in sight for the animosity between LIV golfers and PGA Tour/DP World Tour players.

According to reports at Emirates Golf Club, Patrick Reed threw a tee at Patrick Reed this morning after McIlroy refused to acknowledge him. Both Reed and McIlroy are playing in this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

The animosity between Reed and members of the PGA Tour has been building since the former Masters champion joined LIV Golf back in June of 2022. The 32-year-old has sued a handful of golf media members in defamation lawsuits.

Patrick Reed threw a tee at Rory McIlroy, which might not sound like much, but this is essentially golf's version of a bench-clearing brawl.

— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) January 24, 2023

According to those at Emirates Golf Club, Reed stood near McIlroy with the intention of saying hello, but Rory never turned to acknowledge him.

The Independent shared that “Reed insisted on saluting McIlroy but after getting no response, he gave up and walked away but not before putting his hand in his pocket and throwing a tee in McIlroy’s direction in disgust.”

This is the second report of tension being witnessed between PGA Tour members and LIV golfers as there were reported instances LIV golfers getting the cold shoulder at last year’s BMW PGA at Wentworth.

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