Rory McIlroy has taken many positions on LIV Golf since its emergence in 2022, from blaming it for a schism in professional golf to softening his stance on the players who chose to play there and to saying a PGA Tour-LIV deal would be the best way forward.
The six-time major champion said Tuesday he was glad to be wrong about that last part.
“I can admit when I’m wrong, and that was one that I did get wrong,” McIlroy told reporters at Aronimink Golf Club, just outside of Philadelphia, ahead of this week’s PGA Championship.
LIV Golf is still alive and kicking, but it was confirmed last month that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the chief financial backer of the breakaway league, would cease its funding at the end of the 2026 season. An event planned for June in New Orleans was postponed and may be rescheduled for the fall outside of the official season.
PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is stepping down as LIV’s chairman as Saudi Arabia refocuses its spending strategy amid war in the Middle East.
McIlroy claimed Tuesday that while he had heard rumors for weeks prior, LIV players were apparently blindsided by Saudi Arabia pulling out.
“Look, I think everyone knows like with everything that’s happening in the Middle East, that had a lot to do. But whenever you have funding tied so much to the geopolitical landscape in the world, that’s a tricky road to navigate,” McIlroy said.
“Yeah, their priorities shifted, and that leaves LIV in a pretty precarious spot, but again, that was always — it was always a possibility. I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen. Like I was hearing about this back in March, April time.”
McIlroy isn’t necessarily speaking without sources. One of his best friends from Northern Ireland, Ricky McCormick, caddies for Tom McKibbin, a young compatriot playing the LIV circuit.
“I would talk to (McCormick) all the time about what was going on,” McIlroy said. “I was saying to Ricky, even before Mexico, ‘Have you guys heard any of this stuff?’ He was like, ‘No, everything seems OK over here.’
“It just feels like the rug was pulled from under their feet and everyone was sort of blindsided by it. But again, that’s the risk that those guys chose to take. As I said, it leaves — there’s a lot of uncertainty in the air right now.”
McIlroy had little to add about the prospects of LIV Golf once the PIF financing dried up.
“I’m not privy to the deals they have,” he said. “I guess from what I read they’ve got some sponsorship revenue for I don’t know how long that those commitments are.
“Look, if they do somehow get a schedule together for next year, it seems like it’s going to look drastically different to what it’s looked like over the last four years.”
Eleven members of LIV Golf, including McKibbin and major champions Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, are on site this week. Rahm will speak to reporters later Tuesday morning.
McIlroy enters the PGA Championship off his second straight Masters victory and previewed Aronimink earlier this spring.
“I think there’s an argument to maybe not having these signature events the week before majors or the weeks after majors to allow guys to maybe prep for the major championships a little bit better,” McIlroy said. “But I definitely think courses we don’t see very often … it certainly has benefited me over the years. I remember the first time I did it for a major championship was (the U.S. Open at) Congressional in 2011 on the back of a recommendation from Jack Nicklaus. So it’s helped me over the years.
“Some majors, I haven’t went to the tournament site ahead of schedule, and I’ve done well, but for the most part when I have made an advanced trip, it’s worked out well for me.”
