Rory McIlroy has never been a big fan of LIV Golf and doesn’t seem to mind that it could soon find itself in the rough.

In an interview with the London-based outlet Telegraph Sport, the five-time major tournament champion teed off on the Saudi-backed men’s pro tour, which made its debut in 2022 and has been a massive thorn in the PGA Tour’s side ever since.

LIV has lured several PGA Tour stars with huge contracts and bonuses, including Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.

But Koepka is coming back, even before his LIV contract is up, and McIlroy told Telegraph Sport that the return of Koepka — also a five-time major winner — is another indication that the LIV Tour does not have a promising future.

“It’s not as if they made any huge signings this year, is it?” McIlroy told Telegraph Sport on Thursday. “They haven’t signed anyone who moves the needle and I don’t think they will. I mean, they could re-sign Bryson (DeChambeau) for hundreds of millions of dollars, but even if they do, it doesn’t change their product, does it? They’ll just be paying for the exact same thing. And they’ve lost Brooks, so they’ll be paying out all this money and …”

LIV Golf has a different format than traditional tours such as the PGA, LPGA and DP World tours. The tour consists of 13 teams of four players each, who, along with five wild-card players, make for a total of 57 players. The teams previously competed in 14 54-hole events each season for individual and team championships, but made a change to 72-hole tournaments for the upcoming 2026 season.

McIlroy told Telegraph Sport he’s happy to have Koepka back. The West Palm Beach, Fla., native will compete in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1. He must make a $5 million charitable donation and faces other restrictions under the PGA Tour’s “Returning Member Program,” which was designed to lure back some LIV defectors.

“This is great as it gets Brooks back to where he belongs,” McIlroy said. “He is one of the best players in the world, and anything that makes the traditional tours stronger is a good thing in my book.”

McIlroy and the PGA Tour are also hoping that DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith return to the fold — although all three have already pledged to remain with LIV. There is a Feb. 2 deadline, but the PGA Tour could extend that to keep the door open for three of its top former players.

The PGA Tour is starting to play hardball with LIV and some of the stars who left. The PGA Tour created an equity program with part of a $1.5 billion investment to be able to go toe-to-toe with LIV and its Saudi money. Any LIV players who opt to come back to the Tour would be held out of the program for five years.

“A lot of these guys’ contracts are up,” he said. “They’re going to ask for the same number or an even bigger number. LIV have spent $5 billion or $6 billion and they’re going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are. Look, I’m way more comfortable being on the PGA Tour side than on their side, but who knows what will happen.”