Tuesday afternoon shocked the international golf world. The announcement that LIV Golf and the PGA Tour are burying the hatchet and, with the DP World Tour in their wake, moving into one joint newly formed entity, came as a complete surprise. Apart from PGA Tour chief executive Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), hardly anyone knew about the deal. Even Rory McIlroy, who has acted as something of a spokesperson for the PGA Tour for the past two years and has been highly critical of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf, was only briefed shortly before the news was announced.
The Northern Irishman will defend his title in the Canadian Open this week and a press conference has already been scheduled. That meeting with the news suddenly took on a completely different meaning. Would McIlroy be disappointed with the partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund or does he see benefits? As always, McIlroy made no bones about his heart or shied away from questions. These are Rory’s most important and striking statements.
Unite
“It’s hard not to feel like a sacrificial lamb right now. I put myself out there.”
McIlroy was always up front defending the PGA Tour and CEO Jay Monahan. That took a lot of energy, it earned him a lot of approval but also a lot of criticism and now this is happening to him…
“If I look not at myself but at the bigger picture and ten years on, I think this is ultimately good for golf. We can now start uniting the sport at an elite level and this partnership also provides financial security for the future .”
“The simple answer is yes, the complex answer is, how should that be done? It’s gray territory, but there must be conversations.”
When asked by a journalist whether the golfers who have remained loyal to the PGA Tour and have not succumbed to LIV Golf’s millions should now be financially compensated.
Here’s Rory saying he feels a bit like a sacrificial lamb in all of this. pic.twitter.com/tHd2mKeIkf
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) June 7, 2023
Enemy or partner?
“Actions have consequences.We can’t just let those men back in and pretend nothing happened. They damaged the PGA Tour and started a lawsuit against us. You can’t just go back on the Tour, that’s what Jay (Monahan) also tried to make clear yesterday (during a meeting with players).
In 2024 there will be a way back for players from LIV Golf to the PGA Tour, but if it is up to Rory, certainly not without a fight.
“I hate LIV, I still hate LIV. I hope LIV Golf disappears and that’s what I expect too. That’s an important distinction, this is about the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF, which is very different from LIV.”
Rory was and is not a fan of LIV Golf…
“Like it or not, the PIF continues to invest money in golf. The upside is that the PGA Tour can now control how that money is spent. One of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world would rather be a partner than an enemy. I’m at peace with it, I’ve seen how things have gone in other sports and in business. I accepted this. How can you compete with people who have more money than everyone else? Again, if they (Saudi Arabia) are going to put that much money into golf, then we better partner up and make sure the money is invested in the right way.”
Rory’s answer to the question of whether he has any ethical concerns about the money from Saudi Arabia.
Our top golfers are part of #TeamNL ???????? #TeamNLGolf #NederlandseLoterij
