Rory McIlroy has admitted his relationships with a number of Ryder Cup team-mates who have jumped ship to LIV Golf have become increasingly strained.
Ahead of what could be a tense week at the BMW PGA Championship, plenty of the talk has once again been dominated by the controversial LIV Golf series - with a total of 17 of its members competing at Wentworth, the home of the DP World Tour.
And four of McIlroy's European Ryder Cup team-mates from their drubbing at Whistling Straits are competing at Wentworth this week - including Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Bernd Wiesberger.
Asked if his bonds with Poulter, Westwood and Garcia specifically could survive their LIV defection, McIlroy made his feelings pretty clear in response.
"I have no idea. I wouldn’t say I’ve got much of a relationship with them at the minute," McIlroy said.
"They are here. They are playing the golf tournament. My opinion is they shouldn’t be here, but again that’s just my opinion.
"But if you’re just talking about Ryder Cup, that’s not the future of the Ryder Cup team. They’ve played in probably a combined 25, 30 Ryder Cups, whatever it is.
"The Hojgaards (Rasmus and Nicolai), Bobby Mac (Robert MacIntyre), whoever else is coming up. They are the future of the Ryder Cup team. That’s what we should be thinking about and talking about."
And McIlroy continued his LIV Golf tirade ahead of the tournament at Wentworth.
When quizzed on the prospect of battling it out with a LIV player for glory come Sunday afternoon, McIlroy joked: "I’ll be trying to win a golf tournament regardless. They are going to be pretty tired on Sunday – it will be the fourth day."
The 33-year-old Northern Irishman also joked that Q-School could be the only way for the LIV rebels to get back onto the traditional tours.
