“Best thing to happen” - Rory McIlroy takes shots at LIV golfer Henrik Stenson over lost Ryder Cup captaincy

Rory McIlroy has slammed LIV golfer Henrik Stenson in his latest social media post. Recently, as Jon Rahm defected to join LIV Golf, McIlroy asked the officials to alter the qualification rule of the Ryder Cup so that the Spanish golfer could compete at the biennial tournament in 2025.

Following the news, golf statistics expert Lou Stagner tweeted that McIlroy could go public in favor of Henrik Stenson's Ryder Cup captaincy.

Stenson was considered to captain the European team at the Ryder Cup in 2023. However, he joined LIV Golf, and ultimately, Luke Donald filled the position.

"I wonder if @McIlroyRory also wants to change the rules so Stenson can captain the team?" wrote Stagner.

The post did not go unnoticed by the current World No. 2 golfer, and he jumped to the comments section to say that it was better for the European team that Stenson joined LIV.

McIlroy wrote:

"The best thing to happen to the 2023 Euro Ryder cup team was Henrik going to LIV!"

Luke Donald, the captain of the 2023 Europe Ryder Cup, was highly appreciated for his leadership throughout the competition earlier this year. The team led by Donald completed an amazing five-point victory over the United States.

McIlroy had earlier spoken in favor of the captain and even said in one of his interviews that he wanted Donald to be the captain of the team in 2025.

In October, McIlroy said (via Mirror.co.uk):

"He's (Luke Donald) probably the first captain since Paul McGinley, for me, who's really set us up for success. I've always said McGinley was hands down the best captain I've played under, but Luke was a close second to that. Luke treated it like a full-time job, just like McGinley did, just like Thomas Bjorn did. My dad has always said to me 'Rory, anything you do in life, you'll get out of it what you put into it.'"

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“I’m just disappointed" - Henrik Stenson on losing his Ryder Cup captaincy

Stenson was disappointed with the officials' decision to remove him from the Ryder Cup. Although the Swedish golfer was aware of the consequences when he joined LIV, the decision still hurt him.

During the final round of the 2033 Open Championship held in July, Stenson opened up about the biennial tournament and his captaincy. The former Open Championship winner expressed his disappointment, saying that he was prepared to discuss with the officials before they made a judgment.

He said (via Golf Digest):

“I’m just disappointed that with everything that came out because there was a big willingness on my part to sit down and talk long before this thing got to where it got to."

Noticeably, Team Europe has revealed their captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup. The squad will be led by Luke Donald once more in the upcoming iteration, which will be held at Bethpage Black in New York.