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Edoardo Molinari, a pro golfer on the European Tour, recently praised Nicolai Hojgaard, the European Ryder Cup star, for turning down LIV Golf. Several players have joined the ranks of the rebel tour recently, but Hojgaard remained committed to the PGA Tour. Molinari believes that's a positive development.
Molinari said of his fellow European via NUCLR Golf on X:
“A few weeks ago I was speaking to Nicolai Hojgaard, who had a good offer but turned it down because he knows that if he continues to play well, he will still earn a lot of money but will be freer to make certain decisions and will be sure of playing the majors.”
Hojgaard decided to turn down the money (it's unclear what a "good offer" amounts to), believing that his commitment to the PGA Tour would open the door for Major tournaments and more down the line. Those can be rather lucrative, so he could potentially make up the lost signing bonus from LIV.
Molinari also said:
“Honestly I don’t understand players who are 20 or 30 years old and risk throwing away their careers to go to LIV Golf…. Of course if they come to me and offer me 300 million, it would change my life but they haven’t come.”
Caleb Surratt is a recent example of this, as his first pro experience came after he joined the rebel tour. Nevertheless, it's something that has slightly baffled Molinari.
The golfer did admit that he hadn't been approached by LIV Golf, but that he understands that the tour has lots of money and has signed players for massive amounts, making it hard to turn them down. But from his perspective, it carries too great a risk, especially for a young, not-yet-established golfer.
Italian golfer is not concerned about LIV players joining Nicolai Hojgaard in the Ryder Cup
The European side of the Ryder Cup did not pick any LIV Golf members. They passed on Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and other LIV players who at one point were mainstays of the team. The American side did choose Brooks Koepka, but he was the lone player from the rebel tour.
With more and more European players heading to LIV, like Jon Rahm and Adrian Meronk, this provides a unique wrinkle in picking the team. Edoardo Molinari doesn't foresee any major issues, though. These issues, of course, won't apply to Nicolai Hojgaard, who has remained away from LIV.
Molinari said via Bunkered:
“The only requirement at the moment is that they are members of the European Tour. I believe someone like Rahm, whatever the cost, wants to play the Ryder Cup. So I don’t think he will resign from the European Tour.”
Rahm has expressed his desire to see a unified game in the near future. The merger between PIF and the PGA Tour could certainly bring that about. With the two governing bodies having met recently, things appear to be trending positively regarding the merger framework agreement.
Once it is resolved, it's hard to imagine there being a rift in the sport that prevents LIV members from potentially being picked for the Ryder Cup. It will be hard for them to qualify, but a captain might not be so inclined to leave deserving candidates from the rebel tour off the roster.
