{"id":264201,"date":"2025-11-05T11:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T11:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/264201\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T11:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T11:47:12","slug":"rory-mcilroy-gives-opinion-on-stunning-liv-golf-news-its-a-peculiar-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/264201\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy gives opinion on stunning LIV Golf news: “It’s a peculiar move”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Masters champion Rory McIlroy says LIV Golf’s decision to backtrack<\/a> on one of their founding principles is a “peculiar move”.<\/p>\n

LIV Golf<\/a> announced on 4 November that effective immediately all of their $25m tournaments, apart from the team championship, will be contested over 72 holes.<\/p>\n

Since the PIF-backed league was launched in 2022 the breakaway tour has used a 54-hole format with team and individual scores counting.<\/p>\n

The unconventional format played a big role in LIV Golf players falling down the world rankings and being frozen out of the men’s majors.<\/p>\n

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It is thought the drastic format shift – coupled with changes<\/a> to their promotion and relegation system – will now give LIV the green light for world ranking points.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds,” McIlroy told reporters before the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy initially led the charge against LIV Golf since its inception, with the golfer the PGA Tour’s unofficial spokesman.<\/p>\n

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He was critical of the ageing European Ryder Cup legends who decamped to LIV and, in June 2023, even said he “hated” the rival league.<\/p>\n

His comment came in the wake of a shock armistice that was struck behind his back between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.<\/p>\n

McIlroy’s stance has since softened somewhat and the five-time major winner has even been accused of performing a dramatic U-turn.<\/p>\n

\"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy on the 2025 Ryder Cup<\/p>\n

“It certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments than what we’ve all done,” McIlroy<\/a> added. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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“It brings them back into not really being a destructor and sort is of falling more in line with what everyone else does.<\/p>\n

“But if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that’s what they had to do.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy said he’s not sure if having world ranking points now will benefit LIV as so many players have fallen down the ladder.<\/p>\n

Dustin Johnson<\/a>, who was the top-ranked player in 2021, is now 604th on the list.<\/p>\n

McIlroy said: “I think what’s hard is you’ve got the LIV guys, and say potentially they get world rankings, but because their strength of fields are going to be so weak because a lot of the guys have fallen already in the rankings because they have not had ranking points for so long, I don’t know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them.<\/p>\n

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“Yeah, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.”<\/p>\n

Future schedule changes<\/p>\n

McIlroy will look back on 2025 as the best year of his career to date.<\/p>\n

He won the coveted Players Championship in March for the third time and backed that up by finally ending his wait for a major championship victory at The Masters.<\/p>\n

An Irish Open win followed and in September he helped Europe to a dramatic away victory over the United States at the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n

Going forward, McIlroy has made it clear he wants to play less.<\/p>\n

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He has moved back to the UK and now resides in the exclusive Wentworth estate in Berkshire.<\/p>\n

\"Rory <\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy<\/p>\n

Asked about his 2026 schedule, McIlroy said: “I think I’ll play the same amount of tournaments on the DP World Tour, if not more, but I’ve alluded to the fact that I’m going to play a little bit less just throughout the year.<\/p>\n

“[I am] really [going to] prioritise the major championships and a few of the other bigger events.<\/p>\n

“But the world of golf does a really good job of keeping you – I describe it as keeping you on the hamster wheel.<\/p>\n

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“And sometimes it’s nice to get off that hamster wheel and do things your own way.”<\/p>\n

He added: “Look, I’m not getting any younger. If I want to play competitively for another ten years like Justin Rose has, for example, I have to remember that I’m not 23 anymore and I can’t play that schedule forever.<\/p>\n

“So I think to try to have the longevity that I want to have, I’m going to have to cut back my schedule a little bit over these next few years to make sure I stay injury-free and I play up until the point that I want to.”<\/p>\n

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