25 August 2023 , 12:40
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Paul Casey has admitted he will still be tuning in and backing the Europeans at this year's Ryder Cup, despite claiming the event has been left "damaged" by the saga surrounding LIV Golf players.
Casey is one of a number of LIV Golf stars who will not be involved in the European setup this September, despite having played in the last two Ryder Cups for his continent. Three of Europe's greatest Ryder Cup players, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia, will also miss the event.
All four of Poulter, Westwood, Garcia and Casey made themselves ineligible for this year's clash with the Americans after resigning their DP World Tour memberships following sanctions handed to them over their LIV switch.
Not only are some of Europe's biggest names unable to represent their team this time around, but they are also ruled out of any Ryder Cup in the future due to their lack of DP World Tour membership. The omission is no doubt a miss for both sides of the argument, with Team Europe seemingly losing out on four vice-captains and captains of the future.
Amid the drama that has centred LIV players and the matchplay event, Casey believes the European Ryder Cup setup has felt the repercussions over the past year. He told Golf Digest : "The Ryder Cup is so valuable in terms of what it gives to golf in Europe, not just monetarily.
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Paul Casey has played in the last two Ryder Cups (Getty Images)"We don’t want that to be damaged any more than it has been already." There is no doubt European golf has been left torn in two over the past 14 months, especially after Henrik Stenson was stripped of his Ryder Cup captaincy duties last July after he made the decision to join the LIV setup.
Despite the treatment towards those who chose to make the move to the breakaway league, Casey admitted he will still be cheering on the Europeans from afar as they look to regain the Ryder Cup on home soil. "I don’t watch a lot of golf outside of the majors," he added.
"But I will certainly watch the Ryder Cup. And I might just have a piece of Euro team clothing on under my top. I won’t have the commentary on though.” Europe will take on their American rivals over three days at Marco Simone in Italy, with the event kicking off on Friday, September 29.