Former Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson has conceded he would find a lucrative offer from LIV Golf "hard to turn down" after the controversial saga took another explosive twist this week.
Donaldson, 46, famously provided the winning moment for Team Europe in 2014 when he played a wedge onto the 15th green at Gleneagles, sealing him a 4&3 win over Keegan Bradley. His point helped Paul McGinley's men to an eventual 16.5-11.5 triumph.
And whilst the Welshman hasn't given up hope of another appearance at the iconic team event in 2023, it's a tournament already tainted by absentees. This week, European captain Henrik Stenson - a teammate of Donaldson's six years ago - was sacked from the role over his defection to the rebel tour.
The likes of Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood, all of whom would have been considered potential replacements, have themselves already been deemed ineligible after signing up with Greg Norman. The Americans meanwhile, will be missing the likes of Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson.
But Donaldson says he can understand players at the tail-end of their career jumping ship, and concedes that at his age, any offer would be enticing: "I get it [with] the older guys," he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I would find it hard to turn down, me personally. For an older guy that's not as competitive as he was, not competing as well in majors, I think it's difficult for people to turn down."
Donaldson also argued that for golfers with little chance of a place on the Ryder Cup team, and who were no longer competing in majors, the opportunity of a reduced schedule was enticing: "The Ryder Cup for me was the greatest moment and we all did that for nothing," he continued.
"We don't get paid to play in the Ryder Cup. There were bounce-offs in sponsorship possibly for some golfers. It was the greatest thing I have ever been a part of and there was no money involved.
"But at the end of the day if you are older and you don't feel like you can get in another one or you don't feel like you can compete in majors as you once did, it's different then, isn't it? You have got family and you can now play less golf for more money.
"You can spend more time with your family and everyone else is better off because of it. How do you say no to that?" Despite his words, Donaldson insisted he could still make the European team for 2023, but admitted he would need " an absolute blinder of a year."
The third LIV Golf event in Bedminster takes place from July 29-31 , with Stenson named this week in the 48-man field. And despite being vilified by the likes of 2021 skipper Padraig Harrington for his move, Donaldson argued the Swede could have missed out on a lucrative deal had he tried to delay things another year.
"You don't know, if he [Stenson] goes and finishes his captaincy and by the time he has done it, he is unable to get into it [LIV], when it was something that maybe he was planning to do all along anyway - it's like an opportunity missed for him."
