DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Rory McIlroy believes the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have grown \u201ctoo far apart\u201d to form an alliance and bring a splintered sport back together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t see a world where it can happen at this point,\u201d McIlroy said Wednesday at the Dubai Desert Classic on the European tour.<\/p>\n
Brooks Koepka\u2019s return to the PGA Tour from LIV has brought into sharper focus the fading hopes of any form of deal being struck by top officials on the two circuits.<\/p>\n
Even U.S. President Donald Trump has gotten involved in negotiations at one point, but there\u2019s no sign of a commercial partnership that was first mooted in 2023 when the tours announced a framework agreement.<\/p>\n
To McIlroy, who was once one of the most outspoken critics of LIV before distancing himself from talks, it looks as far away as ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust I don\u2019t see a world where the two or three sides or whoever it is will give up enough,\u201d he said, in a reference to the involvement of the European tour in talks. \u201cLike for reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they are just too far apart for that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Message to Rahm, Hatton<\/p>\n
Among the top players still with LIV are Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who were McIlroy\u2019s teammates in Europe\u2019s Ryder Cup win at Bethpage Black last year.<\/p>\n
Rahm and Hatton are currently going through an appeal process after being sanctioned with fines by the European tour for playing the LIV Golf circuit. They are still allowed into European tour events while the process plays out.<\/p>\n
McIlroy said paying the fines would be a sign of their commitment to the Europe\u2019s Ryder Cup team ahead of the 2027 matches in Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup, and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cThere\u2019s two guys that can prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIlroy\u2019s goals<\/p>\n
McIlroy will be playing on the European tour for a second straight week, having finished tied for third at the Dubai Invitational on Sunday. He shared the lead at one stage in the final round but wound up two strokes back from winner Nacho Elvira.<\/p>\n
The No. 2-ranked McIlroy said he is constantly shifting his expectations and goals after completing the career Grand Slam last year.<\/p>\n
For the Northern Irishman, it\u2019s mostly about \u201cfinding joy in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I need to show up at tournaments with enthusiasm every single time,\u201d he said. \u201cSo playing in the places that I want to play, playing the tournaments I want to play. Not feeling like I\u2019m at a tournament because I\u2019m obligated or have to be there but because I want to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what he still wanted to achieve in golf, McIlroy said: \u201cOlympic medal. (British) Open at St. Andrews. Yeah, maybe like a U.S. Open at one of those like old, traditional golf courses \u2014 whether it\u2019s Shinnecock this year or Winged Foot or Pebble Beach, (or) Merion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have told you two years ago,\u201d he added, \u201cif I won the Masters, it would have been great and I could have retired or whatever. But when you keep doing things, the goal posts keep moving, and you just keep finding new things that you want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP golf: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/golf<\/p>\n
The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Rory McIlroy believes the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have grown \u201ctoo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-425005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}