Rich Beem agreed Tuesday to give his spot in the Hong Kong Open to a player who would otherwise have lost his European Tour membership and been ineligible to play in the Ryder Cup next year. Under those circumstances, he said he would have made that sacrifice for any player.
Even if that player was Ian Poulter.
"I'm not looking to gain anything from this," Beem told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I looked at it in the simplest terms. There's a guy who loses his tour membership if I don't step away. Is it anymore awkward because it's Ian Poulter?