{"id":440098,"date":"2026-05-09T09:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T09:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/440098\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T09:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T09:27:08","slug":"mcilroy-makes-dig-at-liv-finances-but-open-to-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/440098\/","title":{"rendered":"McIlroy makes dig at LIV finances but open to returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Masters champion Rory McIlroy took aim at LIV Golf’s financial plight, but is not against players returning to the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

McIlroy, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Saudi-backed breakaway, was speaking after a four-under 67<\/a> moved him into contention at the Truist Championship.<\/p>\n

The future of LIV Golf remains in doubt<\/a> after Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund announced plans to withdraw financing at the end of the year, having spent more than \u20ac4.5billion since 2022.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Bryson DeChambeau insisted he would focus on his YouTube channel <\/a>should LIV Golf not survive, rather than look to secure a return to the PGA Tour as Brooks Koepka did earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The PGA Tour re-wrote its rules in December to allow five-time major winner Koepka to return, subject to certain sanctions.<\/p>\n

Those rules were specifically designed to apply to LIV\u2019s big-name players \u2013 Jon Rahm, DeChambeau and Cameron Smith \u2013 however none of them took up the limited-time offer.<\/p>\n

“I think everyone sort of knows my views on LIV and where it stands in the game of golf,” said McIlroy. “I don\u2019t think I need to rehash any of that. It\u2019s never been for me.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re going to go and try and find alternative investment, whatever that may look like.<\/p>\n

“But when one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you\u2019re too expensive for them, that sort of says something.”<\/p>\n

Asked about the prospect of players returning to the PGA Tour, McIlroy added: “It\u2019s a question if they do want to come back.<\/p>\n

“I think there\u2019s going to be a lot of bridges to cross to get there.<\/p>\n

“I think (PGA Tour chief executive) 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. That\u2019s just good business practice.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m not going to judge anyone for not wanting to play on the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

\"FARMINGDALE,
\nBryson DeChambeau insisted he would focus on his YouTube channel should LIV Golf not survive<\/p>\n

“If you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be. And if you don\u2019t want to play here, I think that says something about you.”<\/p>\n

The County Down man, who had not played since securing a second successive green jacket<\/a> almost a month ago at Augusta National, looked in good form before heading to the US PGA on Monday for the year\u2019s second major.<\/p>\n

McIlroy, a four-time winner of this event, bogeyed his second hole of the day following a wayward approach but then roared back with six birdies before another dropped shot at the last for a 67 which left him tied for eighth on five under, four adrift of Sungjae Im.<\/p>\n

“I hit a lot closer, especially on some of the par threes,” said McIlroy. “Holed a couple of extra putts which always helps. It was a solid day.<\/p>\n

“Overall it was a good day, and it was a good day to get myself back in the hunt and feel like I have a real chance going into the weekend.”<\/p>\n

Korea\u2019s Im had three birdies against a single bogey in his round of 69.<\/p>\n

McIlroy\u2019s Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood sits second on eight under after a second straight round of 67.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Alex Fitzpatrick, fresh from winning the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his brother Matt<\/a>, shared third with Justin Thomas after both carded rounds of 68 to reach seven under.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Masters champion Rory McIlroy took aim at LIV Golf’s financial plight, but is not against players returning to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-440098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}