McIlroy criticizes LIV’s wasteful spending and sees reunification with PGA Tour as “difficult”

Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy who is also the current world number two, considers the reunification between the American PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the circuit financed by Saudi Arabia, to be “very difficult” and called the behavior of those responsible for the league born in 2022 “irrational” due to the huge expense paid in player contracts.

“As someone who supports the traditional structure of men’s professional golf, we have to be aware that we were trying to deal with people who were acting, in some ways, irrationally, simply in terms of the capital they allocated and the money they spent,” McIlroy said at a forum organized by the US channel CNBC.

According to the Northern Irish golfer, since the LIV was created in 2022 and it has "yet recovered any of the initial investment” and “will have to continue spending that money to maintain what they have now.”

“Many of their players have expired contracts. They’re going to ask for the same amount or even more. LIV has spent five or six billion dollars (between 4.4 and 5.1 billion euros) and will have to spend another five or six to stay where it is,” predicted the recent winner of the seventh DP World Tour crown.

Among the stars who play on the Saudi circuit, whose tournaments do not count towards the world ranking, are the Spaniard Jon Rahm and the American Bryson DeChambeau, both winners of two majors.

McIlroy, who belongs to both the American and European tours, expressed his skepticism that an agreement could be reached between the PGA Tour and the LIV and compared it to other sports where a schism has also occurred.

“If we look at boxing, for example, or what has happened in motorsports in the United States with Indy, NASCAR and everything else, I think that for golf in general, a unification would be better (…) But I think with what has happened in recent years, it is going to be very difficult to achieve,” the Northern Irishman said.

The first European player to achieve the Grand Slam in golf guaranteed that he will continue with his current status: “I feel much more comfortable being on the PGA Tour side than on their side (LIV).”

“The leadership that Brian [Rolapp] has already demonstrated and where he wants to take the PGA Tour, everyone on the PGA Tour sees that we are in a good position and we are confident that his direction and leadership will put us in the right place,” he added about the CEO of the American circuit, appointed to the position last June.

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