Due to his dissatisfaction with the state of the sport, Rory McIlroy seemed to be considering a move to LIV Golf last month. However, he has since made up his mind, which has greatly benefited the PGA Tour.
When it came to the possibility of Rory McIlroy leaving the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, he has permanently closed the door.
It follows last month, when the Northern Irishman seemed to allude to the possibility of joining the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway tour. Since LIV’s inception in 2022, the four-time major champion has been among its most ardent opponents, luring several elite players away from the PGA Tour, but of late, McIlroy’s rhetoric has loosened in opposition to the league led by Greg Norman.
McIlroy emphasized on Thursday that he has no intention of leaving the PGA Tour, highlighting the significance he places on the legacy and stature the tour has amassed since its founding more than a century ago.
McIlroy told ESPN, “I am too much of a traditionalist, so it’s not for me.” “I enjoy taking home the trophy after a victory in a golf tournament, whether it be for Sam Sneyd, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, or another player. the individuals who preceded me. That is significant to me in our game.
Following his press conference at the Cognizant Classic last week, where he was questioned about remarks made by his former agent, Chubby Chandler, who implied his former client might join LIV, McIlroy’s position has been confirmed.
At the PGA National, McIlroy said to reporters, “You never know, he might know a few things.” In response to questions concerning Chandler’s claim to Bunkered that McIlroy would join LIV, which he later withdrew and revised to a “10%” chance, McIlroy said, “Maybe somewhere in the middle.” Who knows?”
The idea that McIlroy might make a stunning switch to LIV, however, has been dispelled by his most recent interview, even though he still wants to play with the world’s best players more frequently. McIlroy wants to change the fact that the elite players of the PGA Tour and LIV have only shared the course at select DP World Tour events and major championships.
“I would kind of be for that,” he said, “if we were to get together and ask ourselves, ‘What can we all do to come back together, move forward, and be a little more cohesive?'”
It comes after McIlroy acknowledged—in a statement that infuriated a number of his PGA Tour colleagues—that he thinks players who quit the PGA Tour to join LIV should be free to rejoin.
In addition, he has suggested adding a second round of tour presentations to the schedule, which would be modeled after the Champions League in football and would be open to the best players from each tour.
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