\u201cI think for golf in general it would be better if there was unification,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cBut I just think with what\u2019s happened over the last few years, it\u2019s just going to be very difficult to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryson DeChambeau also doesn\u2019t see a light at the end of the tunnel. The two-time U.S. Open Champion believes the two sides are entrenched, and it will take time to get real movement on bringing the game back together. <\/p>\n
\u201cMan, I wish something major would happen, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to in the immediate future. I think there are too many wants on both sides and not enough gives on the other,\u201d DeChambeau said in a recent interview with FOX News.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just too far apart on a lot of things. It\u2019s going to take some time, but ultimately, I do think the game of golf will grow internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n Pro golf is dealing with its own Thanksgiving dilemma\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n By:<\/p>\n Back in February, McIlroy implored players on both sides of the divide to put their differences aside<\/a> and realize that they have all financially benefited from the fracture and now it\u2019s time to bring the game back together. <\/p>\n \u201cWhether you stayed on the PGA Tour or you left, we have all benefited from this,\u201d McIlroy said at the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. \u201cI\u2019ve been on the record saying this a lot: We\u2019re playing for a $20 million prize fund this week. That would have never happened if LIV hadn\u2019t come around. I think everyone\u2019s just got to get over it, and we all have to say, OK, this is the starting point, and we move forward. We don\u2019t look behind us. We don\u2019t look to the past. Whatever\u2019s happened has happened and it\u2019s been unfortunate, but reunification, how we all come back together and move forward, that\u2019s the best thing for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people are butt hurt or have their feelings hurt because guys went or whatever, like, who cares? Let\u2019s move forward together, and let\u2019s just try to get this thing going again and do what\u2019s best for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n McIlroy\u2019s plea to unify the game came with a reasonable reminder that having the players who left for LIV return will benefit them financially in the long run. After Strategic Sports Group invested $1.5 billion into the newly created PGA Tour Enterprises last January, players were given equity grants in the business that come with an eight-year vesting period. As McIlroy noted, if the PGA Tour has all the best players in the world, the value of the business and their shares will go up. <\/p>\n \u201cLike for us, they\u2019ve all got equity in this tour,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cHaving Bryson DeChambeau come back and play on this tour is good.\u201d<\/p>\n When LIV first arrived on the scene and fractured the professional game, McIlroy was the lead voice in the PGA Tour\u2019s battle against the Saudi-backed league. While McIlroy still believes LIV\u2019s emergence was bad for the health of the pro game, he sees that everyone has benefited from the fracture and pro golf can\u2019t continue in its broken state.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t feel that way initially because of the fracture,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t good for the game. It wasn\u2019t good for the overall game. It wasn\u2019t good for either tour, I didn\u2019t think. I think we\u2019re both sort of like this has been great for the major championships. We all get together at the major championships and that\u2019s been a really good thing, but for both tours, it\u2019s unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n In February, it appeared like the two sides were moving closer to a deal, but the tone shifted in March<\/a>, and things have been quiet ever since. <\/p>\n Since then, LIV Golf has reapplied for Official World Golf Rankings points, made the change to go to 72 holes and added a new qualifying route<\/a> with a Q-School tweak. <\/p>\n The move to 72 holes <\/a>was made with the coveted OWGR points in mind, but it left McIlroy scratching his head<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds,\u201d McIlroy said at the 2025 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this month. \u201cI don\u2019t think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back.<\/p>\n \u201cIt certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments than what we\u2019ve all done. It brings them back into not really being a destructor and sort of falling more in line with what everyone else does. But if that\u2019s what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that\u2019s what they had to do.\u201d<\/p>\n LIV\u2019s changes signal that the breakaway league is full steam ahead under new CEO Scott O\u2019Neil and doesn\u2019t plan to go anywhere. <\/p>\n Neither McIlroy nor DeChambeau sees traction in the great golf reunification plan, but DeChambeau is hopeful that, over time, the game will eventually come back together. <\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t speak for anybody, but I think there will be improvements for the game as time goes on,\u201d DeChambeau told FOX News. \u201cIt\u2019s positive disruption, and it\u2019ll take time to let the water settle and make a perfect scenario where we all come back together.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, I think it\u2019ll be good for the game over time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n “><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been over two years since the PGA Tour\u2019s framework agreement with LIV Golf, but the reunification…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-317376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n ![\"Victor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764456611_472_Perez.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Sean Zak <\/a><\/p>\n