The Ryder Cup “will not be devalued” if LIV Golf players are not allowed to compete in this year’s event in Rome, said England’s Justin Rose.
The United States have already said their 12-man team will not feature any players competing on the LIV tour.
The make up of the European team hinges on this week’s arbitration hearing in London, which will establish if LIV golfers can play on the DP World Tour.
If banned they will have limited chances to qualify for the Ryder Cup.
Rose, who has played in the biennial event five times, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “There is so much strength in depth I don’t think it will be devalued.
“People like watching Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter [who have all joined the LIV Golf circuit]. They bring a lot of passion. They will be missed for sure but it is what it is.
“You have the powers that be, the traditional people who kind of still have control of golf, and you have an upstart league which is trying to bring in a fresh idea and rival product.
“It’s all good either way, it’s just can both fit together in this scenario.”
If players from the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV tournament are banned from playing on the DP World Tour they will have limited chances to earn qualifying points for the six automatic places in Europe’s 12-man team to face the US in Rome from 29 September to 1 October.
In addition they will have fewer opportunities to impress European captain Luke Donald to give them one of his six wildcard picks.
There are 14 LIV Golf events scheduled for 2023 but the Official World Golf Ranking board does not currently award them points.
Rose, who won his first PGA Tour event in four years on Monday to gain him qualification for the Masters in April, added he did contemplate joining LIV but it was the uncertainty around world ranking points which was a “non-negotiable”.
“There have been moments where it all sounds pretty good on paper,” said the 42-year-old who won the 2013 US Open. “The concept itself has been around for seven years and there are elements where it sounds really, really cool.
“The fact there was never a moment in time when all the top players could get behind it because there were too many unanswered questions, specifically around world ranking points, that was the major hurdle I faced with the decision.
“I couldn’t get away from the fact I wanted to play major championship golf. I don’t have exemptions down the line so my clean way into the majors is maintaining a good world ranking.
“So that became a null and void, a non-negotiable from my point of view.”
However, Rose said he has not judged his friends for the decisions they have made, including those of Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, who was Europe’s Ryder Cup captain for this year’s event before switching to the LIV circuit, and Ian Poulter who has starred in the event on numerous occasions.
“Poults and Stenson have been partners of mine in many Ryder Cup matches and we’ve won an awful lot of points together so from that point of view, I’ll miss them out there,” said Rose.
“I have seen them socially. I still text and call guys. Everyone can make their own decision, I do not think badly of them for doing that and they are still my mates.
“There are going to be consequences to that decision and obviously the rulings will determine whether that is good or bad for them.
“One good thing from a Ryder Cup point of view is this decision will be done early enough and whatever the outcome, there’s time for relationships to heal. Clarity is what most of us want.”
‘It was a sucker punch’
Rose’s win at last week’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California – his 11th on the PGA Tour – has also put him in Ryder Cup contention, which he said means a lot after being left out of the 2021 team that suffered a record 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits on the shore of Lake Michigan.
“Missing out there was a little bit of a sucker punch. You come off a period of time when you are number one in the world and not far removed from it but you can’t get into the Ryder Cup team,” he added.
“That was definitely a moment where you’re like ‘well I know I’m not playing great but my peers know I’m not playing great’, that was kind of a wake-up call.
“Those feelings aren’t great but they are huge motivators as well.”