Rory McIlroy believes golf needs its best players to compete against each other more regularly and would welcome the return from LIV of the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.
While the Masters champion admitted that one of the side effects of the Saudi-backed outbreak was an increase in the status of the majors and the Ryder Cup by concentrating all the top players in those events, he said the sport needed them to compete more often to remain relevant.
The decision last month by five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, one of the biggest names, to retire was a blow to LIV, which is currently fighting a battle to be awarded world ranking points to support its claim to credibility.
His departure throws up a conundrum for the PGA Tour, which has usually insisted players serve a year’s suspension before returning, although a spot on the DP World Tour remains a possibility as he played a number of events last year.
McIlroy would not object to his or any other LIV star’s return, but accepts that others may not be so keen.
“They’ve made the money, but they’ve paid the consequences in terms of their reputation and some of the things they’ve lost by going over there,” he said. The overlap podcast.
“If it made the overall tour stronger to have Bryson back and whoever else I would be okay with that, but I recognize that not everyone is in my position – that would be up to the entire group of PGA Tour members to make that decision.
“That which is [LIV] has done is elevate the majors and the Ryder Cup, because only four or five times a year you see all the best players play together.
“For golf to be relevant, I think we need the best players together more often than that.”
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You can revisit Rory McIlroy’s spectacular year over the festive period on Sky Sports Golf with the documentary McIlroy ’25: A Career Year
McIlroy questioned how much longer LIV could remain viable as it struggled to break into the mainstream.
Despite luring away top stars with multi-million dollar contracts and last year finally securing television deals, LIV has failed to capture the imagination of the majority of golf fans.
Plans for a partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, announced in the summer of 2023, have stalled, although McIlroy claimed earlier this year “were close but they never got there”.
And the Masters champion believes there will come a time when the riches in the PIF (Saudi sovereign wealth fund) money will begin to dry up.
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“If LIV can’t capture the imagination and they’ve spent so much money on this venture and it doesn’t give them a return, I don’t know how much longer they can keep it going,” added the Northern Irishman.
“I think at the end of the day, they just want a seat at the table, so how do you give them a seat at the table and try to repair the breach?
“It’s hard because you’re trying to give everybody a win, but to give everybody a win, everybody’s going to feel like they’ve lost.”
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