Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau serve as the de facto spokespersons for each side of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf divide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now, more than two years after the leaders of both tours developed a framework agreement to unify, a deal appears as bleak as ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for golf in general it would be better if there was unification,\u201d McIlroy said during CNBC\u2019s CEO Council Forum<\/a> earlier this week, \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 Sports Illustrated\u2019s Free Golf Newsletters. dark. Sign Up Now. SI Golf Newsletters<\/p>\n Both circuits are under new leadership. LIV named a new CEO, Scott O\u2019Neil<\/a>, at the beginning of the year and the PGA Tour appointed Brian Rolapp as CEO this summer<\/a>. O\u2019Neil recently disclosed that \u201cThe two of us have talked a few times. Generally, we have a common view on what could be or should be the landscape of golf over the next several years.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet, there doesn\u2019t seem to be an urgency to merge from the PGA Tour\u2019s standpoint, with an investment last year from the Strategic Sports Group worth $3 billion, plus strong television ratings in 2025<\/a>. LIV, meanwhile, has reported $1.1. billion in losses<\/a> in its first three seasons on the international side, though, the league has taken steps to legitimize, such as moving to 54 holes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n McIlroy feels LIV\u2019s efforts to push forward despite proving not to be a successful business model\u2014yet, at least\u2014might be the biggest culprit in preventing a deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs someone who supports the traditional structure of men\u2019s professional golf, we have to realize we were trying to deal with people that were acting, in some ways, irrationally, just in terms of the capital they were allocating and the money they were spending,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cIt\u2019s been four or five years and there hasn\u2019t been a return yet, but they\u2019re going to have to keep spending that money to even just maintain what they have right now. A lot of these guys\u2019 contracts are up. They\u2019re going to ask for the same number or an even bigger number. LIV have spent five or six billion U.S. dollars, and they\u2019re going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m way more comfortable being on the PGA Tour side than on their side but who knows what\u2019ll happen?\u201d<\/p>\n DeChambeau, like McIlroy, wants to see the two sides come together, but acknowledges it won\u2019t be imminent.\u00a0<\/p>\n