Tommy Fleetwood

Should it be true he will join fellow European Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Martin Kaymer, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell, all of ...

The move would almost certainly see Stenson step aside from the Ryder Cup captaincy, which would be a crippling blow to the matches in Italy next year, both in terms of face and timing. Stenson was only named as the skipper as recently as March, a relatively late appointment in terms of the captaincy, and it might open the door to Luke Donald to take over the reins in Italy. Earlier in the week the R&A's chief executive Martin Slumbers said that any LIV players would not be called for pre-championship interviews – not that the Ryder Cup skipper, even one who won The Open as recently as 2016, would generally speak with the media ahead of The Open.