Rory McIlroy, when asked whether certain LIV Golf players should be allowed back onto the PGA Tour, started his 22-word answer on Wednesday with a question of his own.
The six-time major winner spoke one day before the Tour’s BMW Championship — and at about the same time as LIV CEO Scott O’Neil addressed the future of his league as it attempts to regroup after the loss of its primary backer, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. The exit has led to speculation on whether LIV players would stick with the league after its season-ending event this week, or look into avenues to play on the Tour, the circuit in which most of the pros had once played.
But McIlroy questioned the point of certain LIV pros returning.
“I mean, I’d argue, have they brought value to LIV? You know?” he said.
“I think the PGA Tour’s in a really good spot.”
Later in his press conference, McIlroy was asked whether the Tour would be helped by having a pair of specific LIV pros — two-time major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm — among its players as it looks toward media rights negotiations. In January, they had been offered, along with Brooks Koepka and Cam Smith, a deal to leave LIV and return to the Tour under a number of stipulations, but only Koepka accepted it.
“Eventually, yeah, maybe,” McIlroy said in response to the question. “But I don’t think it’s — I mean, look, eventually they will.
“Look, if they play the golf and they, you know, I’m pretty sure — I’m not part of these discussions, but I’m pretty sure they’re not going to be welcomed back straight away. If they were offered this returning member program back in February, the one that Brooks took, then, yeah, maybe. But that has sort of come and gone. And I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward, if they do decide to come back, isn’t going to be as good as the one that Brooks got. So, yeah, I would say it’s going to be a tough, tough road back.”
McIlroy, who’s been critical of LIV since its start in 2022, was also asked if he took any “personal satisfaction” should LIV end up folding — and he called it “a hard one.” As part of his answer, he noted the loss of jobs, along with Phil Mickelson and the Saudi investment.
“I think I feel like I’ve kept my position consistent that LIV has never been a good thing for the game,” McIlroy said. “So, and whatever 2.0 looks like, if it even happens — you know, they say they’re trying to be more collaborative and all that. But I — this is the best platform for the top professional golfers in the world.
“Yeah, were there some things at the start of LIV that the PGA Tour could have done better? Sure. But I think that the guys that went, or you look, you think back to the start with, say, Phil was unhappy with some stuff or whatever it was. Like, surely that just warranted a conversation instead of blowing the entire professional game up and doing something else.
“So I don’t take any personal satisfaction of people like losing jobs. Like that doesn’t seem right. I’ve always felt like this is the best place to play professional golf. And I’m pretty sure if the PGA Tour were handed 6 billion dollars it would have done a better job with it.”
The question of whether LIV players should be allowed back was also posed on Wednesday to Scottie Scheffler and Adam Scott, and both were OK with players returning under penalty.
Said Scheffler: “I think when we talk about the best players, you know, LIV has a few players that are really good. I think the depth that we have on our Tour is a bit unmatched, but I think when you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf, there’s definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the Tour, and guys that I love competing against as well. So I think going forward there obviously has to be, I think, some sort of penalties.”
Said Scott: “I think it needs to be fair. I mean, it’s a complicated question to answer. The PGA Tour needs to protect its own membership, but I think the PGA Tour also knows that there needs to be pathways, so it will be fair.”
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