Rumors have been swirling in the past week that Rory McIlroy could be the latest to defect from the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.
McIlroy, who has been the flag bearer for the PGA Tour since LIV Golf’s creation in 2021, pledged his allegiance to the PGA Tour Tuesday, two days before he tees it up in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
“I will play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career,’ McIlroy told Todd Lewis of the Golf Channel/NBC.
London financial paper City A.M. initially reported that McIlroy had received an $850 million offer to join LIV Golf. Sean O’Flaherty, McIlroy’s manager, called the report “fake news.” McIlroy told Lewis that LIV Golf has never offered him a contract.
“I honestly don’t know how these things get started,” McIlroy said. “I’ve never been offered a number from LIV, and I’ve never contemplated going to LIV. I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me. Doesn’t mean that I judge people that have went and played over there. I think one of the things I’ve realized over the past two years is, people can make their own decisions for whatever they think is best for themselves. And who are we to judge them for that? But personally, for me, my future is here on the PGA Tour, and it’s never been any different.”
McIlroy, 34, is the No. 2 player in the Official World Golf Ranking. Winless thus far this season, he finished T22 in this past weekend’s 2024 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. McIlroy, a four-time major champion, hasn’t triumphed at a major event since the 2014 PGA Championship.
PGA Tour, LIV Golf working on resolution?
This past June, the PGA Tour announced a merger with the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) rights and businesses — which include LIV Golf — and DP World Tour’s business and rights. Player directors on the PGA Tour Enterprises board met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund, last month in the Bahamas. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan described the meeting as “constructive.”
Tiger Woods, one of six player directors to attend the meeting, said after his Final Round 77 in the Masters that the two rival tours are “headed in the right direction” on coming to a resolution.
As of now, the PGA Tour has suspended LIV Golf players from playing in Tour events. The four majors — the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship — are the only events where PGA Tour and LIV Golf players come together.
Among the notables to defect over to LIV Golf in the past two years: Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquín Niemann.
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