Henrik Stenson has refused to rule out a return to the European Ryder Cup setup a year after being sacked as captain due to his move to LIV Golf.
Stenson was the man appointed to lead the Europeans to Rome next month, but was brutally axed after he made the decision to join the LIV setup last summer. 12 months on the world of golf finds itself in a very different position, with the dispute surrounding the breakaway league eased following the PGA Tour and DP World Tour's agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
On the back of the framework agreement a topic of conversation on the lips of most was the Ryder Cup eligibility of rebel players, especially in regard to the European team.
Europe saw a whole host of big names - including Stenson - make the Saudi switch and eventually resign their DP World Tour memberships, thus giving up their Ryder Cup chances. With the professional game healing though, it appears they will get the chance to be at least eligible to represent their country again, with the opportunity to reapply for membership set to be on the table.
You could forgive Stenson however for passing up on the chance to return to the Ryder Cup arena on the back of his captain sacking, but the Swede appears to be open to the opportunity to be appointed further down the line. Speaking ahead of his LIV Bedminster title defence, he said: "I hope [to be included in the future.
"I hope maybe we can see a different future down the line somewhere, whether that involves me or some of the other guys. It's kind of a lot of speculation, and I'll just -- I'll just wait and see what happens. If things change in the future, which I hope they will, we'll see if there's a time and a place for some of us to be involved going forward."
Whilst the European LIV stars are banking on a return in the future, those on the U.S. side have their eyes on being involved in just a few weeks time ahead of the 2023 event in Rome. One man who knows the event Ryder Cup as good as anyone is Phil Mickelson, and the six-time major champion has backed a number of his fellow LIV players to make Zach Johnson's team.
Mickelson claimed all five of Talor Gooch, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed are all worthy of a pick. "There's some players here on LIV that have played some golf that I would argue is some of the best in the world," Mickelson said. Bryson [DeChambeau], his last week is one of the best performances in the game.
I think Talor Gooch is one of the best performances of the year, and Brooks [Koepka] is one of the toughest competitors, and then you always want to throw DJ [Dustin Johnson] or Patrick Reed in there because of their consistency. They've Aces to a number of victories. You've got four or five guys here that you can make an argument are some of the best American players for sure.