Rory McIlroy has spoken for the first time since it was announced that Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm is joining LIV Golf.
Rory McIlroy fears a ‘divide’ in golf after Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm completed a staggering £400m move from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf. The Spaniard’s defection to the Saudi-backed breakaway league was finalised on Thursday, making the world No. 3 the highest-paid sportsperson on earth, earning almost three times as much as footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The current Masters victor will join the ranks of notable winners who have moved from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf in pursuit of extremely lucrative contracts, including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, and Dustin Johnson.
As he sticks with the American-based operation, it puts PGA poster boy McIlory in a challenging position. Furthermore, the Northern Irishman expressed his worry about what he perceives to be a dilution of elite men’s golf as a whole, with the top players in the world engaging in different competitions.
“My fear is that we continue down this path where we have competing tours and it divides the eyeballs that are on the game,” McIlroy stated in an interview with Sky Sports. While most people prefer the PGA Tour, some people prefer LIV. However, if LIV starts to accept a small number of players each year, it will become increasingly divided, which is bad for everyone.
As a sport, you’re essentially cannibalizing yourself, much like boxing has done with all the various organizations and a few other sports as well. I believe that the public wants to see all of the best golfers under one roof, so that’s the best course of action going forward.
“The majors are already very large, but if we continue in this direction, I worry that the top players will only be able to get together four times a year. This implies that golf will only be significant four times a year, which is bad news for everyone involved in the sport.
“We must gather everyone back together and make an effort to put the past behind us. The greatest thing for the professional game, in my opinion, will be if we all move on and let the past go.”
Rahm’s decision to join LIV Golf is noteworthy for two reasons. Behind Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, he has emerged as one of the biggest names in the game. He was also a big star at this year’s Ryder Cup in Rome, which he would not have been allowed to participate in if he had been a LIV player in September.
However, the move’s timing begs more questions than it does answers. When the PGA Tour announced in June that it had settled its legal disputes with LIV Golf and reached a “framework agreement” that would see the two rival organizations essentially combine into one along with the DP World Tour, it completely rocked the golf world.
However, there hasn’t been much information released about the nature of this agreement, and with the December 31 deadline looming, Rahm’s decision to join the LIV Golf League, which is supported by private investment funds, is, at the very least, concerning.
But it seems that the Spaniard found the opportunity to become the highest-paid athlete in the world too good to refuse.
Rahm said, “It’s not an easy decision,” when he appeared on Fox News to confirm the change. There were many very alluring things that LIV had to offer.”
He continued, “I can’t comment on any of that, nor do I want to,” in reference to the rumored deal. It is, and will remain, confidential. Hey, that was a really good offer. The money is fantastic; it’s great. I’m not a greedy person; rather, I’m ambitious.”
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