Henrik Stenson joins LIV and loses Ryder Cup captaincy

Henrik Stenson (Twitter)

According to Wayne Sterling of CNN on Wednesday, Henrik Stenson of Gothenburg, Sweden will no longer be the captain for Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, Italy. That is because he is close to signing with the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Stripping Stenson of his Ryder Cup captaincy is the latest example of the tension between the LIV Golf Invitational Series and the PGA European Tour/PGA Tour, which have a significant venture in the Ryder Cup.

It appears Zach Johnson of Iowa City, Iowa will remain the United States Ryder Cup captain. There is no connection with this American Johnson to the LIV series, only Dustin Johnson.

Stenson has one major title connected to his name. He won the 2016 British Open. Stenson shot a British Open record -20 to beat Phil Mickelson by three strokes. The -20 was matched this past weekend by Cameron Smith.

However the -20 Stenson posted six years ago, was not the best score he has ever posted in winning a golf tournament. He also shot a -22 in winning the 2013 Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts, and a -22 again in winning the 2017 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.

It will now be interesting to see who Team Europe will replace Stenson as captain. Possible options at this time are three-time major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland (2007 and 2008 British Open, and 2008 PGA Championship), Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, the captain of the 2018 Ryder Cup European winning team, former world number one Luke Donald of England, 40-time professional golf champion Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain (a fan favourite to many) and 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie of Scotland.

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