Rory McIlroy sees PGA wins as cheapened without Jon Rahm

SAN FRANCISCO – Rory McIlroy said PGA Tour triumphs at venues such as Pebble Beach and Riviera will be devalued in the

absence of two-time Major winner Jon Rahm

and other stars following their defection to LIV Golf.

As such, the four-time Major champion – who has long been a vocal critic of LIV since its inception in 2022 – also feels it is more important to complete a merger between LIV and the PGA Tour than it is to sort out punishments for defectors to the Saudi-backed upstart circuit.

Speaking ahead of the Feb 1 start of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Northern Irishman was asked if wins at the California venues were cheapened without Rahm, Dustin Johnson and other top players who jumped to LIV.

“Yeah. I’d like to win here and stand up with a trophy on 18 green and know that I’ve beaten all of the best players in the world, so yeah,” he said.

McIlroy, who spoke of conversations with 2023 Ryder Cup teammates Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton before they signed with LIV, said golf needs to reunite top players, even if it delays sorting out any punishment for players who went to LIV but want to play in future PGA Tour events.

“Life is about choices. Guys made choices to go and play LIV, guys made choices to stay here. If people still have eligibility on this tour and they want to come back and play, let them come back,” he said.

“It’s hard to punish people. I don’t think there should be a punishment – obviously, I’ve changed my tune on that because I see where golf is and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and a diminished LIV Tour or anything else is bad for both parties.”

Talks on a framework merger agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV’s Saudi backers, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), have extended beyond a Dec 31 deadline in order to sort out a deal to please all sides.

“It would be much better being together and moving forward together for the good of the game,” McIlroy added.

“The faster we can all get back together and start to have the strongest fields possible, I think is great for golf. We’re potentially about to do a deal with PIF and, hopefully, seeing things come back together here at some point.”

McIlroy removed himself from the PGA Tour Policy Board in 2023,

saying that he needed to focus on his game and his family, instead of working on a merger deal.

“I just didn’t feel like I could influence things the way I wanted to. I felt like I was just banging my head against the wall,” he said.

But there is at least some progress, as it was reported that a deal is near between the PGA Tour and Strategic Sports Group (SSG) that would see a US$3 billion (S$4.02 billion) investment in the tour.

“I just hope they get it done. They were supposed to vote on it Sunday night and there was a delay. They were supposed to vote on it last night and there was a delay,” McIlroy said.

“I feel like this thing could have been over and done with months ago. For all our sakes, the sooner we sort of get out of it and have a path forward, the better.”

While all these are going on, world No. 16 Hatton became the latest player to jump to LIV, after talks with McIlroy about the move.

“Everyone needs to do what’s right for them. I had a long talk with Tyrrell on Sunday, completely understood where he was coming from,” McIlroy said.

“I’ve talked to him quite a bit about it. It got to the point where... he has to do what he feels is right for him.

“I’m not going to stand in anyone’s way from making money and if what they deem life-changing money. If that’s what they feel is the best decision for them, then I’m going to be supportive of that decision.” AFP, REUTERS