Rory McIlroy admits his biggest regret in getting so heavily involved in all things PGA Tour vs LIV Golf in recent times is ‘not getting that much back in return’.
McIlroy, 35, revealed his latest thoughts on all things LIV Golf and PGA Tour in a short interview with ‘Beyond the Clubhouse’ host Garrett Johnston ahead of this week’s $20m Memorial Tournament.
The Northern Irishman was a staunch critic of LIV Golf, bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and led by two-time Open champion Greg Norman, when it first burst on the scene in the summer of 2022.
Just months before its first tournament in England, McIlroy claimed LIV Golf was ‘dead in the water’ and ‘not something to jump at’.
Two years on, and LIV Golf has now pinched some of the world’s biggest golfers including Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith.
But as McIlroy lines up this week’s Memorial Tournament hosted by record 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus, it is evident his stance on all things LIV Golf has very much eased.
There is now an acceptance for the PGA Tour superstar that the professional game is sadly divided, but hope it can come back together.
Much will likely depend on whether the PGA Tour can successfully thrash out a deal with LIV Golf’s bankrollers, PIF, on a shock commercial partnership despite everything that has happened over the last two years.
McIlroy, who no longer sits on the PGA Tour policy board this season, claims to hold no resentment over the players that left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, but that he does wish he had eased off in his criticism of the breakaway circuit from the outset.
He also holds frustration at getting very little out of all his efforts on the PGA Tour board.
Watch Johnston’s interview with McIlroy below, which also includes comments about Jon Rahm’s future on the Ryder Cup team…
Of his biggest regret on all things PGA Tour vs LIV Golf during his time on the policy board, McIlroy told Johnston:
“I just think that maybe putting so much into it, and not getting that much back in return.
“But yeah, people are going to do what they’re going to do. People are going to make ultimately the right decisions they feel is the best thing for themselves.
“For me, just more, I maybe didn’t have the empathy to understand where people were coming from whenever they decided to go to LIV.
“I think a couple of years down the line, I’ve got a better perspective on it. Yeah, it’s created this divide in the game, which is unfortunate, but hopefully in the future we can all come back together and that will be great for everyone, great for the players, great for the fans, everyone involved in golf.
“We see it four times a year [everyone playing together in the majors], I think we need to see it a few more times than that.”
McIlroy was also pressed by Johnston for comments about LIV Golf superstar Jon Rahm’s future on the European Ryder Cup team.
The 26-time PGA Tour winner claimed he ‘doesn’t see a world where Jon Rahm isn’t on the Ryder Cup team’.
He added: “We need him. He’s great in the team room, everyone loves him, especially at Bethpage next time, we need him. We need all the help we can get.”