Rory McIlroy initially announced himself as one of LIV Golf’s biggest critics, but after the Saudi-backed league’s rapid rise, it appears the Northern Irishman has softened his stance
Rory McIlroy believes that the PGA Tour is unable to compete with the Saudi-funded wealth of its LIV Golf rivals, and has called on the feud between the two circuits to come to an end.
McIlroy, who has always shown his allegiance to the American circuit, is now at the center of the conflict between the PGA Tour and LIV. Though it seems the Northern Irishman and his Tour colleagues may have underestimated their Saudi rivals, despite his initial firm stance.
With the support of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), the LIV setup has been able to draw in some of the biggest names on the Tour; the most recent addition is McIlroy’s Ryder Cup partner Jon Rahm.
A month after Rahm made his huge money switch, McIlroy has revealed the difficulties the PGA Tour is facing. “The Saudis’ money is completely unsustainable, and the PGA Tour is trying to compete with LIV,” he said on the Stick to Football podcast.
“That is not possible for them to do. Money-for-money, you will never win a fight because, as far as I can tell, no one spends as much in sports as the Saudis do.” Following the announcement of a framework agreement with PIF last summer, the Tour was forced to swallow their pride in response to the Saudis’ foray into the golf world.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Tour would collaborate with both their European counterparts on the DP World Tour and their LIV rivals. Those involved set a deadline of December 31 to approve the deal after the announcement on June 6. However, this deadline was missed last weekend.
The PGA Tour declared that talks with the Saudi fund and American investor Strategic Sports Group (SSG) would proceed after their New Year’s Eve goal was not met. McIlroy hopes that despite opposition from players on both tours, the two rival tours can come to some sort of understanding.
He continued, “I hope everyone gets back together.” The LIV guys don’t really want to return and play on the PGA Tour because they don’t feel like they’ve been treated very well. There are guys on both sides who don’t want it to happen for specific reasons.
Because they don’t want to see those other guys, some of the PGA players are unwilling to reunite. The best thing for golf right now would be for everyone to put their egos and sentiments aside, get back together, and move on.
As a Player Director on the PGA Tour’s Policy Board, McIlroy was perceived as having a significant influence on the agreement. Nevertheless, he chose to leave the position in November of last year, and Jordan Spieth took over right away. Speaking candidly about his resignation, the 34-year-old stated that his lack of time was the primary factor in his decision to step down, not the Tour’s decision to reverse course on Saudi Arabia.
