Paul McGinley has opened up on how Ryder Cup allies Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter left him heartbroken by the way they quit the DP World Tour to join LIV Golf

Paul McGinley says he was "heartbroken" by the way Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter conducted themselves when they quit the DP World Tour for LIV Golf.

European Tour stalwart McGinley captained the men in blue to Ryder Cup glory at Gleneagles in 2014, and six members of his 12-man roster would go on to join LIV. Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson and Martin Kaymer were also on McGinley's team, but they too jumped ship to join the breakaway.

McGinley, now a strategic advisor to captain Luke Donald and a non-executive director of the DP World Tour, does not hold grudges about those players joining LIV, but he says he was hurt by the way they conducted themselves as they headed for the exit.

Only Stenson of those six players did not launch or threaten legal action against the DP World Tour after joining LIV in response to fines issued for playing in the breakaway tour's events. Stenson was relegated from LIV in 2025 and has since played one DPWT event.

And with LIV in the mire after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Garcia, Poulter and McDowell have walked away from the embattled league and are eyeing returns to the DP World Tour. Westwood and Kaymer, both former world No. 1s, have yet to announce their plans.

Garcia, in particular, caused a stir by saying in a statement that he was returning to his "home" on the European circuit, slating the tour as he joined LIV.

McGinley accused LIV members of "short-sightedness" and a lack of "graciousness" in the way they handled their exits, "burning bridges" as they fled for LIV.

“I understand why they went to LIV and I think if I’d been in their position, I might have done the same,” McGinley told The Times. “In my view, going was not the biggest mistake. Their short-sightedness, in being critical of the DP World Tour as they departed — this was the problem.

“They burned their bridges as they crossed to the other side and a lot of people were offended by that. Half of the team I captained in the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles went to LIV. Half of them. Not one of them showed any graciousness to the tour they were leaving. That broke my heart.

“They’re now trying to be more conciliatory. ‘Coming back to my home’ is what Sergio [Garcia] wrote recently, but people remember what was said four years ago.

"Back then, if these guys had been getting good advice, they would have been told, ‘You’ve got to leave it in the right way’, because LIV might be here today, gone tomorrow. You may want to come back to the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, so let’s do this in a classy way, expressing some appreciation as you exit. They didn’t do this.”

LIV's next bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for Thursday in New Jersey, and it is set to be pivotal in deciding LIV's future. If Judge Michael Kaplan deems there is no viable path for the league to survive, he can order liquidation.