Once the most prominent critic of LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy continues to soften his stance on the rival team-centric circuit. In a wide-ranging interview with Sky Bet's Stick to Football podcast, the four-time major champion opened up on his handling of the situation, Jon Rahm's move, how the Saudi Arabian Public Investment exposed the PGA Tour and what the game's future may look like.
"I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went [to LIV Golf] at the start," said McIlroy. "I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realize that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger's position. You get this offer, and what do you do? We all turn professional to make a living playing the sports that we do. I think that's what I realized over the last two years. I can't judge people for making that decision, so if I regret anything, it was probably being too judgmental at the start."
McIlroy, who just resigned from his position as a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, became the pseudo spokesperson for the league during its crisis against LIV Golf. He has given LIV Golf members like Patrick Reed a cold shoulder at tournaments, and he more recently expressed on social media the best thing for the European Ryder Cup team was the original captain, Henrik Stenson, being stripped of his position after joining LIV Golf.
Some of the Northern Irishman's relationships with his European counterparts have been damaged through this saga. One which hasn't, however, is that with world No. 3 Jon Rahm. The Spaniard announced his stunning move to LIV in December, and McIlroy continues to throw support behind his Ryder Cup teammate.
"I think at this point, with the whole framework agreement and the merger news in June, it has legitimized what LIV was trying to do, which then made it easier for guys to jump over to LIV Golf," McIlroy said, when asked about Rahm. "Jon Rahm hasn't got any of the heat for going like the first guys got for going. Jon is a smart guy, and I think he sees things coming together at some point, so he's thinking that he'll take the upfront money, which is his prerogative, and if things come together, he'll play LIV for a year then come back to play on the tour and play some team golf.
"I thought it was a smart business move from Jon -- its opportunistic. I think he sees that things will come back together, and he's in a lucky position. There's not one person that wouldn't want him on our Ryder Cup team because of how good he is, so he was in a great position where there wasn't a ton of risk involved for him to go. But I've got no problem with him going if that's what he wants to do and thinks that's the right decision for him and his family, then who am I to say any different at this point."
Rahm joined other major champions and superstars like Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson in his move to LIV Golf. In doing so, it has damaged the PGA Tour and divided the game as the best players in the world now only meet four times a year at the major championships.
The PGA Tour's bottom line has been in flux ever since increasing purses and adding the Player Impact Program to reward top players. Recently, they have have asked sponsors for a share of their income in 2025. Not all have been cooperative; long-time tournament sponsor Wells Fargo, for example, plans to move on from the Charlotte-based tournament after this year's event.
"I think what LIV has done, it's exposed the flaws in the system of what golf has, because we're all supposed to be independent contractors and we can pick and choose what tournaments we want to play," said McIlroy. "But I think what LIV and the Saudis have exposed is that you're asking for millions of dollars to sponsor these events, and you're not able to guarantee to the sponsors that the players are going to show up. I can't believe the PGA Tour has done so well for so long."
McIlroy's interview comes at a time when the PGA Tour and the PIF continue to negotiate towards a goal of combining commercial operations under a new for-profit entity dubbed PGA Tour Enterprises. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced those discussions have been extended into the new year after failing to meet the self-imposed Dec. 31, 2023 deadline.
The initial announcement on June 6 shocked the golf world, both players and fans alike, as only a small group of individuals were privy to the possibility of an agreement between the two leagues. McIlroy was aware Monahan and PGA Tour board members JImmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy were engaging in conversations with Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, but the brevity of it all still came as a surprise.
"I met Yasir [Al-Rumayyan] last year at the end of 2022 in Dubai and just said, 'What do you want? What is it in golf that you want to do?,'" said McIlroy. "We had a really good chat, and we talked about how he loves the game and he wants to do certain things. He thinks the team element in golf can really take off and try to build franchise value in some of these teams. I understood some of it. When I got back to America at the start of this year [2023], I was on the board of the PGA Tour and I said to the guys, 'Someone has got to go talk to this guy.' Then there was a plan put in place that one of the board members would try to develop a relationship with him, see if we can try to figure something out, we can all move forward together.
"I knew there were conversations being had, but I didn't know that it would happen so quickly. And then obviously June 6th the framework agreement was announced, and a lot of the players were angered by it because they were completely blindsided by it."
What the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will look like moving forward together is anyone's best guess. The important part is they do so as a unit and make the sport whole once again, according to McIlroy. The 34-year-old has an idea of what he would like to see, but if his prediction is anything like those from the last two years, he may be disappointed.
"I would love LIV to turn into the IPL [Indian Premier League] of golf," said McIlroy. "They take two months of calendar. You've got your four weeks in May and your for weeks in November and you go and do this team stuff and is a different format. If they were to do something like that I would say, 'yeah that sounds like fun,' because you are at least working within the ecosystem."
