Rory McIlroy calls LIV Golf’s move to 72 holes ‘peculiar’
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Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy does not believe that LIV Golf's change to four rounds was what was holding them back when it comes to ranking points.
PHOTO: AFP
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ABU DHABI – Switching to 72-hole events beginning in 2026 has been widely speculated as LIV Golf’s attempt to gain Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, but Rory McIlroy is not convinced that it will have the desired effect if that is the case.
“I think it’s a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds. I don’t think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back,” he said on Nov 5, ahead of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
“It certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments... It brings them back into not really being a destructor and sort of falling more in line with what everyone else does.
“But if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that’s what they had to do.”
The top-ranked LIV player is currently Tyrrell Hatton, who is at No. 21 following his recent runner-up finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and a T5 at the BMW PGA Championship.
Bryson DeChambeau is No. 23 on the strength of three top-10 finishes in the four 2025 Majors. However, that still is a far cry from his career-best ranking of No. 4.
Former world No. 1 Jon Rahm has plummeted to No. 71 in the two years since he signed a massive contract with the Saudi-backed league.
Hatton said that in a questionnaire sent to the players following his first season, only about three were in favour of a move from 54 to 72 holes.
“That’s changed quite a bit in the last year and I’m quite happy that we’ve moved to 72 holes,” he said.
However, McIlroy sees an uphill battle for LIV players to improve their ranking significantly, even if approved by the OWGR.
“Say potentially they get world rankings (points), but because their strength of fields are going to be so weak because a lot of the guys have fallen already in the rankings because they have not had ranking points for so long, I don’t know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them,” he said.
“It will be interesting to see how it plays out.”
The 36-year-old Northern Irishman also said that PGA of America chief executive Derek Sprague sent him a personal apology for the abuse he and his wife suffered during Europe’s Ryder Cup victory.
McIlroy was the centre of attention for a hostile home crowd, with incessant abuse and even a beer thrown at his wife Erica Stoll.
“I got a lovely e-mail from Derek Sprague apologising,” McIlroy said.
“He couldn’t have been more gracious or apologetic and he wrote us a lovely letter, which we really appreciated.” REUTERS, AFP
