Hate LIV but resigned to upcoming merger, says Rory McIlroy

By Rahul Banerji

RBC Canadian Open defending champion Rory McIlroy on Wednesday said he was still opposed to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf and its upcoming merger with the PG Tour, but added that he was resigned to the fact.

McIlroy and fellow PGA Tour proponent Tiger Woods were kept in the dark about the shock unification announced on Tuesday and only learnt about the move when the news broke.

“I feel like a sacrificial lamb,” McIlroy told reporters in Toronto. “LIV has got nothing to do with this. It’s hard for me not to sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb. I still hate LIV, I hate them,”

The Northern Irishman, who has been an outspoken critic of LIV Golf and those who had joined the parallel league, said it was probably inevitable.

“How do you keep up with people who have more money than anyone else? Let’s use the money in the right way.

“Whether you like it or not, the PIF is going to keep spending money in golf. At least now the PGA Tour is going to control how that money is spent.

Money talks

“Would you rather have one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks and you’d rather have them as a partner.”

McIlroy said he took comfort from the fact that the merger that would become operational next year was essentially between the PGA Tour, the Europe-based DP World Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

“I’ve made my peace with it. I’ve seen what’s happened in other sports and businesses and I’ve just resigned myself to the fact this is going to happen.”

Earlier on Tuesday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan faced calls for his resignation at a meeting with his tour members in Toronto soon after the LIV Golf-PGA Tour-DP World Tour merger with PIF was announced.

US golfer Johnson Wagner told reporters after the meeting at Oakdale Country Club, “There were many moments where certain players were calling for new leadership of the PGA Tour and even got a couple of standing ovations.

“I think the most powerful moment was when a player quoted Monahan from the 3M in Minnesota last year when he said, ‘as long as I’m commissioner of the PGA Tour, no player that took LIV money will ever play the PGA Tour again’.

Backtracking

“It just seems like a lot of backtracking. Players were mad, they were calling for his resignation,” three-time PGA Tour winner Wagner added.

For his part, Monahan said he understood the anger and disappointment of the players.

“I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite,” he was quoted as saying.

“Any time I’ve said anything I’ve said it with the information I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that’s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.

“I accept those criticisms, but circumstances do change, and I think looking at the big picture got us to this point.

“It probably didn’t seem this way to them, but as I looked to those players that have been loyal to the PGA Tour, I’m confident they made the right decision.

Dynamic period

“Obviously, it’s been a very dynamic and complex couple of years, and for players, I’m not surprised. This is an awful lot to ask them to digest, and this is a significant change for us in the direction that we were going down.

“They have helped re-architect the future of the PGA Tour, they have moved us to a more competitive model. We have significantly invested in our business in 2023, we’re going to do so in ’24.”

Monahan added that all those who had joined LIV Golf would be readmitted to their parent tours next year, and the issue of compensation for those who stayed loyal to the {GA Tour would be addressed.

“Those are the serious conversations that we’re going to have.”

“Ultimately everything needs to be considered. Ultimately what you’re talking about is an equalisation over time and I think that’s a fair and reasonable concept.”

On Tuesday, a joint press statement said that the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf would be merging under a new banner with golfers from the Greg Norman-fronted league being allowed back.

Also read: PGA Tour agrees to merger with LIV Golf in shock move