PGA Tour, LIV Golf deal ‘good for professional golf’, says Rory McIlroy
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Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy takes part in the Pro-Am of the RBC Canadian Open.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – Rory McIlroy on Wednesday welcomed the PGA Tour’s shock merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf,
Northern Ireland star McIlroy, one of the staunchest critics of LIV since the rebel circuit launched in 2022, said he believes the deal announced on Tuesday would secure the financial future of the sport.
“I think ultimately, when I try to remove myself from the situation and I look at the bigger picture and I look at 10 years down the line, I think ultimately this is going to be good for the game of professional golf,” he said.
“It unifies it and it secures its financial future.”
McIlroy was speaking on the eve of this week’s Canadian Open in Toronto in his first comments since Tuesday’s bombshell agreement
Under the new deal, the PGA Tour and Europe’s DP World Tour said they had signed an agreement with LIV’s Saudi backers that will lead to “a new collectively owned, for-profit entity”.
The dramatic volte-face comes after more than a year of bitter acrimony which has torn at the fabric of the sport.
McIlroy, who is reported to have turned down an offer in the region of US$400 million (S$539 million) to switch to LIV, said he understood anger from fellow professionals against PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan
But he insisted he still had confidence in the under-fire chief.
He added that he is adamant there should be no automatic pathway back for the players who switched to LIV.
“There still has to be consequences to actions,” McIlroy said.
“The people that left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this tour, started litigation against it. Like, we can’t just welcome them back in. That’s not going to happen.
“And I think that was the one thing that Jay was trying to get across yesterday is like, ‘Guys, we’re not just going to bring these guys back in and pretend like nothing’s happened’.
“That is not going to happen.”
One of them is Bryson DeChambeau, who left the PGA Tour in June 2022 for a contract with LIV Golf worth at least US$125 million, paid for with Saudi Arabian money.
The American was also optimistic regarding the future of golf.
“There’s a lot more behind closed doors that’s been going on. What I can tell you is that H-E Yasir has always been a staunch supporter of golf globally, and wanting to grow the game,” he said, referring to “His Excellency” Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Al-Rumayyan was named chairman of the new golf entity.
“As it’s come to fruition now I think this is the best thing that could ever happen to the game of golf. The fans are going to get what they want, the players are going to experience something a little different, a little new, but I truly believe the game of golf wins.”
AFP, REUTERS
