Rory McIlroy’s relationship with LIV Golf has been a rollercoaster that has taken a fresh turn.
The Northern Irishman, 35, has remained loyal to the PGA Tour throughout a tumultuous few years in the sport, acting as an unofficial ambassador for them. There were no question marks about where he’d be playing, despite star after star jumping ship to cash in on the Saudi riches.
But the goalposts have been moved several times since LIV’s launch in 2022, with the PGA leaving egg on McIlroy’s face after announcing merger talks with their rivals last year. They remain in the works, while a fresh announcement rocked the golfing world earlier this month.
It was revealed McIlroy and world No.1 Scottie Scheffler will be taking on LIV stars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in a made-for-TV 2v2 match in Las Vegas this December. So Mirror Sport is taking a look back at how McIlroy’s stance has changed over time to get to this point.
Six PGA Tour golfers who could buckle and take LIV Golf mega-money deals
Initial thoughts
While LIV is only two years old, it had been in the works for the best part of a decade. Its precursor Premier Golf League, the brainchild of British businessman Andrew Gardiner, had first approached McIlroy for this thoughts on a breakaway tour in 2014.
He set his stall out from the get-go, not entertaining the idea. Speaking in 2020, McIlroy said: “People are looking at it purely from a monetary standpoint. I would like to be on the right side of history with this one, just sort of as Arnold [Palmer] was with the whole Greg Norman thing in the ’90s.
“Again, I value a lot of other things over money, and that’s sort of my stance on it at this point. I didn’t really like where the money was coming from either. I wanted to be the first one to speak out against it. I’m glad that I have. I’m glad that I’ve done that.”
Growing hate for LIV
Gardiner was hoping the Saudis could help him realise his dream with the PGL, but they ended up creating their own plans with LIV which came to fruition two years later. While the name and leader had changed, McIlroy’s standpoint hadn’t.
He grew increasingly frustrated over the next 12 months. Speaking in September 2022, he told reporters: “I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf, I hate it. I really do.”
McIlroy reinforced that the following June after merger plans came to light, confirming: “I still hate LIV. I hope it goes away. And I would fully expect that it does. And I think that’s where the distinction here is. This is the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF. Very different from LIV.”
His emotions were still unwavering the following month when he went so far as to say: “If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire. That’s how I feel about it.”
McIlroy was as vocal a critic of LIV as he could be ( Getty Images)
Reason he was ‘p***ed off’
McIlroy has always made it clear he holds no ill will to the players who made the switch, but just wants golf to go back to being a united sport. His annoyance arose from the fact they now only play against one another in the majors.
He made that clear on Golf.com’s Subpar podcast in September 2023, telling hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz: “I hate that LIV fractured the game so much. That’s the thing for me that really p***ed me off.
“Hopefully, we can all get back together and make the professional game a bit more harmonious so that we can all compete against each other more often instead of the four times a year at the major championships.”
Denying $850m offer
Given everything he’s said about LIV, it’s extremely hard to imagine McIlroy entertaining any talks with them. And his team were quick to shut down a report from London financial newspaper City AM in April that he’d been lined up for an $850million (£650m) deal.
The man himself then addressed the claim on the Golf Channel ahead of the RBC Heritage, saying: “I honestly don’t know how these things get started. I’ve never been offered a number from LIV, and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV.
“Again, I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me. It doesn’t mean that I judge people who have went and played over there.”
PGA U-turn
Jay Monahan’s decision made McIlroy’s defence of the PGA look pointless ( Getty Images)
No one defended the PGA as staunchly as McIlroy, which left many feeling sorry for him when commissioner Jay Monahan pulled a 180-degree turn on LIV and started negotiating with him. It was naturally a bitter pill for him to swallow.
“It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens,” McIlroy admitted in June 2023.
But while it’s been widely suggested he was betrayed, he doesn’t feel that way, understanding it was necessary for the betterment of the game. During his appearance on the Stick to Football podcast in January, he was asked: “You were the PGA’s basically front man. Do you just feel completely deflated and let down by it now?”
McIlroy answered: “No, not really. I met Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, LIV chairman] at the end of last year. We had a really good chat and we talked about, you know, he loves the game and he wants to do certain things. I understood some of it. The PGA Tour were telling all their players, ‘these are the bad guys that are coming to take over our tour’. Two months later it’s ‘oh, we’re actually going to do a deal’.”
Softened stance
His stance has certainly softened in the last year, backtracking on some of the comments he made during the early days of LIV. McIlroy feels he was only looking at it through his own eyes, failing to recognise how it could’ve been different for others.
He continued on Stick to Football: “I think, at this point, I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV Golf at the start, and I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realise that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger Woods’ position.
“We all turn professional to make a living playing the sports that we do, and I think that’s what I realised over the last two years. I can’t judge people for making that decision.”
McIlroy will be teaming up with Scottie Scheffler against two LIV players ( Getty Images)
2v2 match
Now McIlroy is getting his wish of competing with LIV’s stars outside of the majors when he and Scheffler will face DeChambeau and Koepka, which he’s insisted isn’t intended to send a message to the top chiefs but rather to give fans something to be excited about.
Upon the announcement of the event, he said: “I’m thrilled to partner with Scottie in what promises to be an exciting duel against Bryson and Brooks in Vegas this December.
“This isn’t just a contest between some of golf’s major champions, it’s an event designed to energise the fans. We’re all here to put on a great show and contribute to a goodwill event that brings the best together again.”
