Rory McIlroy has raised concerns over the men’s golf being fractured due to the ongoing PGA Tour – LIV Golf fiasco. He feels that despite the negotiations being under development between the Tour and the Saudi PIF (financial backers of the league), they have not reached the point where the game gets united again. Recently, the Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, accompanied by Tiger Woods and other Player Directors, met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan in The Bahamas, and the meeting was said to be “constructive.”
The Northern Irishman has been advocating the unfication of the game since the start of 2024. His sudden U-turn on LIV Golf also saw him voicing the rebel players return to the US-based Tour without any punishminet. Now, in a recent interview with Golf Monthly, McIlroy commented on the status of men’s golf.
“It’s certainly divided and I think what the framework and June 6th tried to do was unify the game which ultimately needs to happen. We’re not there yet.” McIlroy continued by saying, “We’re probably still quite a long ways from it, but I would hope that in the future that we can get there, unify the game and get the best players back together again.”
Rory McIlroy Feels LIV Golf Has “Some Of The Best Players” And Wants To Play Against Them More Often
There are only four times in a year when both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf players compete against each other, and those are the major tournaments. Ever since the inception of the Saudi-backed league in 2022, the players who switched were banned from playing on the PGA Tour. Since there are independent governing bodies in these four major tournaments, they can include any player to participate.
While speaking to Golf Monthly, Rory McIlroy stated that it was a “shame” for the game of golf to have all the best players competing ony four times in a year.
“It sucks as a competitor that I only get to see and compete against some of those guys four times a year, because ultimately they do have some of the best players in the world that are playing some really good golf.” McIlroy added, “To not see the very best players in the world together more often I think is a shame for the overall game of golf and for fans that want to watch the pro game around the world.”
As per a few reports, the framework of the deal between the PGA Tour and the PIF could be announced before the Masters 2024. Now, it remains to be seen if McIlroy’s wish to see LIV Golfers back on the Tour comes true or not.
