Tony Jacklin: Blacklisting players over Saudi League could spell sad death of Ryder Cup

Ryder Cup legend Tony Jacklin believes potential European captains being blacklisted if they sign up for the Saudi Super League will “spell the sad death” of the biennial event.

Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter have all been linked with Greg Norman’s planned breakaway league despite a threat of facing bans from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

Plans for the Super League have suffered some major blows in the past week as a posse of top players, led by world No 1 Jon Rahm and now also including Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, pledged their allegiance to the PGA Tour.

"One of the things that hasn't been said is how the outcome of the Ryder Cup moves forward in the shadow of this,” said two-time major winner Jacklin, speaking on behalf of BoyleSports golf betting.

Tony Jacklin and Colin Montgomerie during the 2016 Ryder Cup Captains Matches at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

“If people are going to be blacklisted from a Ryder Cup for playing in the Saudi Series, it is going to spell the sad death of the Ryder Cup.”

Jacklin played in the Ryder Cup seven times before helping transform the match in four captaincies, which produced two wins and a tie.

“We've always had the 12 best from Europe and America, and let me tell you as a four-time captain, for the tournament to maintain its status as the pinnacle of golf, you need the best of the best taking part and available.

"It's a serious deal and all of a sudden if certain top players aren't there who deserve to be there on ability, it would be tantamount to a glorified exhibition match. Nobody wants that.

“We have had so much emotion, nail-biting finishes and tears shed over the past decades, it would be a shame to see that end on a point of stubbornness.

“You cannot invent the passion which comes with the Ryder Cup, and all the emotion that goes into it.

“Once you start leaving people off a team due to alterior factors, you are going to lose that truth and the heart of the sport's best competition.”

Jacklin said he disagreed with McIlroy’s view that the Saudi League is now “dead in the water” due to all the game’s current leading players having said ‘no’ to turning their back on the PGA Tour.

"Assumption is the mother of all screw ups, so I would never assume that it was 'dead in the water' like Rory McIlroy said, just because five or six people have come down in favour of the tour,” said the Englishman.

“I think this thing has a long way to go yet. They have signed a lot of very smart people up, whether it's TV execs, rules people, people who deal with commercial entities etcetera.

“We'd be foolish to think it's dead in the water just because a handful of people don't agree with it.”

Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, has said he won’t be signing for the Saudi League, but the likes of Westwood, Stenson and Poulter have yet to reveal their decisions.

“I fully understand someone like Lee Westwood, a bloke in his late forties, seeing a Saudi arrangement attractive,” said Jacklin.

“So the Saudi tournament has some attractive elements to it - not just the money, but the time element, the matchplay element, the team element.”