Rory McIlroy on Wednesday questioned whether Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm had ever “brought value” to LIV Golf, as the divisive rival tour scrambles to reinvent itself and speculation mounts that its stars could jump ship.

Having lost its deep-pocketed Saudi backers, breakaway series LIV this week was forced to cancel its season-ending team championship event in a bid to stay afloat into next year, when it is exploring a slimmed-down schedule.

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Asked whether LIV’s biggest stars should be allowed to return to the PGA Tour — as has been widely rumoured — and if they would “bring value,” McIlroy was dismissive.

“I mean, I would argue, have they brought value to LIV? You know?” said McIlroy. “I think the PGA Tour’s in a really good spot.”

DeChambeau and Rahm were among the most prominent and highly paid defectors to LIV Golf.

LIV reportedly received more than US$5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund between 2021-2026, before it pulled the plug.

Six-time major winner McIlroy has remained steadfastly loyal to the traditional PGA Tour, and an outspoken critic of LIV.

“I feel like I’ve kept my position consistent that LIV has never been a good thing for the game,” said McIlroy on Wednesday, ahead of the BMW Championship in Missouri.

“So, and whatever 2.0 looks like, if it even happens, you know, they say they’re trying to be more collaborative and all that. But I, this is, this is the best platform for the top professional golfers in the world.

“Yeah, were there some things at the start of LIV that the PGA Tour could have done better? Sure. But I think that, you know, the guys that went, or you look, you think back to the start with, like, say, Phil was unhappy with some stuff or whatever it was. Like, surely that just warranted a conversation instead of blowing the entire professional game up and doing something else.

“So I don’t take any personal satisfaction of people like losing jobs. Like, that, that doesn’t, that doesn’t seem right. I’ve always felt like this is the best place to play professional golf. And I’m pretty sure if the PGA Tour were handed 6 billion dollars it would have done a better job with it.”

While former LIV stars like Brooks Koepka have recently accepted deals to return to the PGA Tour, McIlroy predicted it will be “a tough, tough road back” for LIV’s top holdouts.

“I’m not part of these discussions, but I’m pretty sure they’re not going to be welcomed back straight away,” McIlroy said.

“If they were offered this returning member program back in February, the one that Brooks took, then, yeah, maybe. But that has sort of come and gone. And I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward, if they do decide to come back, isn’t going to be as good as the one that Brooks got.

“So, yeah, I would say it’s going to be a tough, tough road back.”

World number one Scottie Scheffler had offered a more diplomatic answer when asked earlier Wednesday about the possibility of LIV stars returning to the PGA fold.

“When you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf there’s definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the Tour and guys that I love competing against as well,” he said.

“So I think going forward there obviously has to be, I think, some sort of penalties. What those are, I’ll let Rolapp and all those guys figure it out. We have great leadership within the Tour now. But I think having those guys come back and competing with whatever happens with LIV, whether those guys want to leave, I mean, you got to ask them.

“But I think for me being able to compete against the best players in the world there’s certainly some guys on that TOUR that can compete out here and I look forward to the chance to compete with them more often.”

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Meanwhile, LIV officials continued to express optimism about their tour’s viability, despite reports that multiple players and vendors are owed money.

LIV has touted a “2.0” version going forward under new investors, including a shorter season, with smaller prize pots, but offering its players greater equity.

At a press conference Wednesday ahead of LIV’s Indianapolis tournament, chief executive officer Scott O’Neil outlined proposals for “five marquee team championships on each of the five continents we play.

There would also be “five team signature events, predominantly in the US and positioned around major championships.” He confirmed that LIV players had been given a deadline to sign up for next season but declined to provide details.

“I have a good level of confidence in my conversation that we’ll have a critical mass of the right players to move this league forward.” McIlroy, though, expressed scepticism about “whatever 2.0 looks like, if it even happens.” “I don’t take any personal satisfaction of people like losing jobs,” he added. “Like, that doesn’t seem right.”