Rory McIlroy has opened up on his role within the PGA Tour’s feud with breakaway series LIV Golf – and has conceded he felt he got too involved in the sport’s civil war
Rory McIlroy has admitted he feels he made a mistake by getting himself involved in golf’s civil war between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV breakaway series.
McIlroy became the most vocal defender of the PGA Tour on the front line of the bitter feud which erupted in 2022 after the breakaway series was founded. The Northern Irishman was stern in his view that players should remain with the Tour, and was often seen with commissioner Jay Monahan during the worst of times in the feud.
The world No.3 has however been the first to concede that his playing game suffered as a result of the amount of energy he was putting into off-course matters. He subsequently quit the PGA Tour players board after deciding he wanted to focus on winning tournaments again.
His fortunes have since picked up on the course, having won the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and the Wells Fargo Championship, and he goes into this week’s Canadian Open as one of the favourites. Ahead of the tournament in Ontario, McIlroy has admitted he feels like he made a mistake with his approach to LIV.
He said: “In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t have gotten involved or not ‘hadn’t have gotten involved’ but hadn’t have gotten as deeply involved in it, and I’ve articulated that.
“I’ve said that I hold no grudge to the guys that chose to go and play on LIV. Everyone’s got their own decisions to make, and everyone has the right to make those decisions. My whole thing is I’m just disappointed what it’s done to – not to the game of golf, the game of golf will be fine – but men’s professional golf and this sort of divide we have at the minute.
“Hopefully, we’re on a path to sorting that out and getting that to come back together, but, yeah, hindsight’s always 20/20, but in hindsight I wish I hadn’t got as deeply involved as I have.”
This isn’t the first time McIlroy has admitted he felt he made a mistake with his approach to LIV, having called for players to be allowed to return to the PGA Tour without any punishments. He made the comments after Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm inked a massive £450million deal to leave the PGA Tour and sign with LIV.
McIlroy also previously flirted with making the move himself, admitting back in February that it wasn’t inconceivable. After his former agent Chubby Chandler said there was a ‘10% chance’ of the Northern Irishman making the switch, McIlroy quipped: “I think he’s writing a book, so there is that. I spoke to Chubby, I might have seen him in the Middle East at the start of the year. Never know. He might know a few things. Who knows?”