“I probably made a judgment on the guys who were at the start and I think that was a bit of a mistake on my part,” concedes Rory McIlroy; McIlroy says he would 'love' LIV to become like 'the IPL of golf' with bespoke windows for team events during the annual calendar
Last updated: 01/03/24 12:46 p.m.
Rory McIlroy says LIV 'would seem fun' if it was more like IPL in cricket
Rory McIlroy has regretted being “too critical” of the tranche of players who initially defected to LIV Golf.
McIlroy, who has been an outspoken critic of early players joining the Saudi-funded series in 2022, admitted that he “basically went through the last two years with this altruistic approach of looking at the world the way I wanted to see it.” ” but had “accepted the reality” that LIV “is now part of our sport.”
Negotiations between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which finances LIV, aimed at unifying golf into a new commercial entity have been extended until 2024 beyond the date initial limit of December 31.
“I probably made a judgment on the guys who left initially and I think that was a bit of a mistake on my part because I realize now that not everyone is in my place or in that of Tiger (Woods),” McIlroy told the Stick to Football Podcast with Sky Bet.
“You receive this offer and what do you do?
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Relive Rory McIlroy's two victories, which gave him a fifth Race to Dubai title, and his starring role in Europe's Ryder Cup triumph
“We all turned professional to make a living playing the sports we play and I think that's what I've realized over the last couple of years. I can't judge the people who made that decision.
“So if I regret something, it was probably too critical at first.”
When asked about his relationship with players who had left the established circuits, McIlroy replied: “Most of it is cool, the only thing that bothered me is I think we have all grown up and played on the European Tour, the PGA Tour and that gave us a platform to find out who we have and give us the profile.
“So when people have been playing this for, say, 15 or 20 years and then they move on to LIV and then they start talking shit about where they came from, that's what bothers me because that you wouldn't be in this game.” position if you didn't have what you had coming.
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McIlroy added: “I don’t blame anyone for going and taking that money and doing something different, but don’t try to burn the place down on the way out.
“That's kind of my attitude towards it because some people are happy to play within the existing structure, and that's totally fine too. But I think it's just created this division that I hopefully, will stop in the near future because I think it's the best thing for golf.”.
He said Jon Rahm, who arguably became LIV's most important signing in December, had made a “smart business decision” and the timing of the Spaniard's move was “opportunistic” in the context of the transfer talks. peace in progress.
“He’s smart and I think he sees things coming together at some point,” McIlroy added.
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Butch Harmon believes Jon Rahm's departure could increase the urgency for the PGA Tour to reach a master agreement with LIV Golf.
The 34-year-old, a four-time major winner and current world number 2, said he had “never received an offer” from LIV to change himself.
“I just didn’t commit,” he added. “At this point, I’ve pretty much got my stand ready.”
McIlroy 'would like' LIV to be 'golf's IPL'
Having seemingly softened his stance towards the breakaway series and those who decide to take part in it, McIlroy suggested he would like to see LIV be akin to what the Indian Premier League (IPL) is to cricket.
He said the creation of the Saudi-backed league had “exposed some of the flaws” in professional golf, which he now hoped could be corrected in time.
“For me, what I would like LIV to become is almost the IPL of golf,” McIlroy said.
“IPL cricket, they take two months off the calendar. You have your four weeks in May and your four weeks in November and you're going to do this team stuff and it's a bit different and it's a format different. If they If I did something like that, I'd be like “yeah, that looks fun” because you're at least working within the ecosystem. It's not like the Saudis in football are trying to take over the entire sport.
“The Saudis have exposed some of the flaws in the structures of professional golf and they could bring in $1 or $2 billion, which couldn't even buy you a football club in some cases. But they have been able to completely disrupt our game with this money.
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Rory McIlroy says merger between PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf 'is not LIV' and reassures fans he 'still hates LIV Golf'.
“So it exposed some of those flaws and hopefully we can all put our heads together and think about what is the best thing for the game going forward.”
But the 34-year-old, who said “I still hate LIV” last June when the shock framework agreement was announced while welcoming the decision to reunify golf, believes that the large sums of Money used to entice players to join rival competition would always be better spent helping grow the game at entry level.
“What I realized is that if people, or a sovereign wealth fund, want to spend money on your sport, ultimately that's a good thing, but maybe you just want to that they spend it in the right way and spend it on things that are important in the game,” he added.
“So instead of giving someone $100 million, why not put $50 million into a grassroots program for the R&A or the USGA so we can actually help? Every time they say 'develop the game', spending that money elsewhere to actually grow the game. and not just trying to buy talent, I think that would be a much better way to spend that money.”
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