Archive of posts tagged manager

Poulter at risk of relegation: future uncertain

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Bubba Watson

A registered letter with no return receipt was sent by the new CEO of LIV Golf, Scott O'Neil, to Ian Poulter. No exceptions: either The Postman places in the top 48 of the 2025 rankings or he's out of a permanent spot on the Saudi tour. With two events remaining in the season, Poulter sits in 51st place.

Ian Poulter, news

The former Ryder Cup star is playing the 2026 event in Chicago this weekend and in Indianapolis next weekend. His hopes are slim: in 2025, the Englishman has a best finish of 13th in South Korea. In total, he has earned 4.5 points in the LIV rankings. Chilean Niemann, the dominant player this year, has a remarkable 206.8.

Scott O'Neill has made things clear, trying to regain his virginity and get LIV players back into the world rankings (and thus back into the Majors). This year, his tour will be played solely on merit on the green. No exemptions.

No exceptions like twelve months ago when, for unspecified "commercial reasons," then-boss Greg Norman fished out Bubba Watson. The American professional, captain of the Range Goats team, finished the 2024 season ranked 53rd. The same treatment was reserved for South African Branden Grace.

More than a hundred professionals from around the world are participating in this never-ending playoff, all chasing a contract. Plan B involves winning the International Series, the minor circuit of the Asian Tour: too bad Ian isn't even in the top 100 today.

According to The Telegraph, the Englishman's contract with the PIF expires on August 24th, at the end of the Grand Team Finals in Michigan. If things go badly (or even terribly), the Englishman could be limited to being the manager or non-playing captain of his team, the Majesticks, next year.

The full Majesticks team: Sam Horsfield, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Henrik Stenson (Photo by Cliff Hawkins / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
The Majesticks are not doing well. Also on the team with Poulter are Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood. The Swede is currently 47th in the LIV ranking, while the Englishman is 46th. Both are on the knife's edge.

It's sad to think of the most bitter scenario: three giants of world golf (Westwood was once number one in the ranking) and of the Ryder Cup competing against each other in the Qualifying Schools for a place in the sun.

In this evolving scenario, the DP World Tour is standing by. Poulter, Westwood, and Sergio Garcia left Europe two years ago, slamming the door, complete with written resignations. Henrik Stenson went further: first he accepted the appointment as European Ryder Cup captain, then he moved to the circuit, a sworn enemy of the DP and PGA. That confrontation now seems a long way off, thanks to a struggling European circuit jostling for greater visibility and sponsorship. Three players like Ian, Lee, and Henrik would still be very useful.

Grigor Dimitrov Out of 2025 US Open

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By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Photo credit: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty

A torn pectoral muscle shattered Grigor Dimitrov’s Wimbledon dream—and ended his 2025 US Open before it began.

The 34-year-old Dimitrov has withdrawn from the US Open as he continues recovery from a partial rupture of his pectoral muscle he suffered while leading world No. 1 Jannik Sinner 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 in the Wimbledon round of 16.

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Dimitrov’s manager, Georgi Stoimenov, confirmed his client’s withdrawal from the Flushing Meadows major to Bulgarian website Tennis Kafe.

The withdrawal ended Dimitrov’s remarkable run of 58 consecutive Grand Slam appearances that dates back to the 2011 Australian Open. Dimitrov held the longest streak of consecutive Slams played among active men and the fifth longest streak in Open Era history. Mutua Madrid Open tournament director and Dimitrov friend Feliciano Lopez owns the longest streak with 79 consecutive Grand Slams in a row. That streak ended in 2022.

The 20th-ranked Dimitrov, who won the 2008 Wimbledon boys and US Open boys’ championships in succession, reached the Flushing Meadows quarterfinals last year bowing to Frances Tiafoe.

A 2019 US Open semifinalist, Dimitrov has contested semifinals at three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, including the 2014 Wimbledon and 2017 Australian Open.

In a classic clash vs. the king of clay Rafael Nadal, Dimitrov pushed Nadal to five sets in a 2017 Australian Open marathon match.

Driven to the brink in a pulsating four hour, 56-minute clash, Nadal fought off a dynamic Dimitrov, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4, to reach his 24th Grand Slam final in Melbourne.