Rory McIlroy takes a massive dig at former Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson, labels his terminated captaincy as ‘best thing to happen’ to European team

Henrik Stenson was originally announced as the captain but was later stripped from the role following his switch to LIV Golf.

Rory McIlroy takes a massive dig at former Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson, labels his terminated captaincy as ‘best thing to happen’ to European team

Rory McIlroy (L) and Henrik Stenson (R) [Pic Credit: Imago/The Boston Globe]

In an unexpected turn of events, current World No. 2 golfer Rory McIlroy took a massive dig at Henrik Stenson. The North Irishman called out his fellow European golfer on X and claimed his terminated captaincy was the “best thing to happen” to the European Ryder Cup team.

Stenson, the Swedish golfer, was a five-time Ryder Cup winner. His experience in this tournament helped the European team claim several victories over Team USA at the Ryder Cup. As a result of this, he was originally elected to be the captain of the side for the 2023 tournament.

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However, a major development took place in the middle of this. The LIV Golf was announced and Stenson would join them. This led to many fans criticizing him for this move. The European team would later strip him from captaincy. Stenson was left unimpressed by this decision and expressed his disappointment claiming that no one was willing to talk with him regarding this.

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After his sacking, the European team would announce Luke Donald as his successor. There were questions raised at first regarding his appointment and then his team selection. The Englishman though was able to prove everyone wrong and ended up as the winning captain as Team Europe crushed their rivals. McIlroy has now taken a shot at Stenson for this and claimed this was the best thing to happen to the team.

Rory McIlroy trashes Henrik Stenson in unexpected shot

Rory McIlroy is one of the most popular names in golf. The four-time major champion has never been shy of voicing his thoughts on several ongoing topics. A few days ago he claimed that he did not understand the anger of the fans while supporting the golf ball rollback. He has now once again stirred controversy as he trashed Henrik Stenson in an unexpected shot on X.

The North Irishman has previously taken shots at LIV Golf as well. He has time and again berated the Saudi-funded tour and slammed them. His stance seemed to have changed in the past few months following the announcement of the merger. However, these words from McIlroy have once again raised concern regarding this true feeling towards the breakaway tour.

Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson
Henrik Stenson (L) and Rory McIlroy (R) [Pic Credit: San Diego Union-Tribune/Imago]

These words from him came while replying to a tweet on X regarding the changes in rules for the Ryder Cup. The user tagged McIlroy while sharing an article regarding his opinion on changing the qualification rules for the Ryder Cup. The switch of Jon Rahm to LIV raised this concern as he has already announced himself for the Bethpage event in 2025. In a conversation regarding this, McIlroy took a shot at Stenson.

The best thing to happen to the 2023 Euro Ryder cup team was Henrik going to LIV!
Rory McIlroy on Henrik Stenson through X.

These bold words from the multi-time major champion are ringing around social media. Fans are now debating whether this shot was necessary at this moment.

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, there could be changes in its qualification process with Rahm moving to LIV Golf and the merger going through. One person that is confirmed for the event is Luke Donald who was re-appointed as the captain of the team. He would be hoping to see Rahm and McIlroy both there in New York as they seek to defend their crown.

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