CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 Rory\u00a0McIlroy\u00a0is no longer opposed to LIV Golf players returning to the PGA Tour, but he said Friday that \u201cit\u2019s a question of if they do want to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIlroy\u00a0said the answer will likely depend on what happens with LIV’s financial situation in the coming months.<\/p>\n
Last month, Saudi Arabia\u2019s sovereign wealth fund\u00a0pulled the plug on future funding for LIV Golf,\u00a0which had lured away stars including Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau with lucrative, guaranteed contracts. LIV’s uncertain future raises new questions about whether some players should be allowed to return to the PGA Tour \u2014 and if so, under what set of rules or penalties.<\/p>\n
The PGA Tour recently offered a temporary path back for some LIV players. Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka\u00a0took advantage of the opportunity.<\/p>\n
Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are among the players who remain under contract with LIV beyond this season.<\/p>\n
However, Rahm resolved his\u00a0financial dispute with the European tour,\u00a0known commercially as the DP World Tour. That move potentially gives him a place to compete in 2027 and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it is a scenario where they have the option to come back and play on the traditional tours, I think (PGA Tour CEO) Brian Rolapp has said anything that makes this tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, I think everyone should be open to that,\u201d\u00a0McIlroy\u00a0said after finishing his second round at the\u00a0Truist Championship.\u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s just good business practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now,\u00a0McIlroy, like most in golf, is in a wait-and-see mode \u2014 although he expressed skepticism about the rival tour raising enough money to continue in its current form.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to go and try and find alternative investment, whatever that may look like,\u201d\u00a0McIlroy\u00a0said. \u201cBut when one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you\u2019re too expensive for them, that sort of says something.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIlroy, the No. 2 player in the world, has become the face of the game along with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler.<\/p>\n
He has been an outspoken critic in the past of players who bolted for big paydays that came with joining the Saudi-backed tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously the guys over there are under contract and if they are able to keep it going and get a schedule together next year, it seems like those guys are still going to play the majority of their golf on LIV, in whatever form it takes,\u201d\u00a0McIlroy\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
DeChambeau\u2019s contract with LIV is up after the season and he has reportedly asked for a new, $500 million deal.<\/p>\n
McIlroy\u00a0has softened his stance on those who moved on to LIV over the years, and reiterated on Friday that he was \u201cprobably too judgmental\u201d in his opinions.<\/p>\n
But he said LIV is \u201cnot for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to judge anyone for not wanting to play on the PGA Tour,\u201d\u00a0McIlroy\u00a0said. \u201cI don\u2019t know, does that mean that they go play DP World Tour, maybe; if that\u2019s a pathway, that would make the DP World Tour stronger, and I would be delighted with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he also questioned why top players would not want to compete against the world’s best every week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be,\u201d\u00a0McIlroy\u00a0said of the PGA Tour. \u201cAnd if you don\u2019t want to play here, I think that says something about you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 Rory\u00a0McIlroy\u00a0is no longer opposed to LIV Golf players returning to the PGA Tour, but he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-658819","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\/658819","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=658819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}