ST. LOUIS — Rory McIlroy warned that LIV golfers should expect a "tough road back" should LIV 2.0 never get off the ground or appeal to them.
McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler weighed in on Wednesday on LIV Golf and the possibility of players such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm returning to the PGA Tour. When McIlroy was asked about the value those LIV stars could bring, he didn’t mince words.
“I would argue, have they brought value to LIV? You know? I think the PGA Tour's in a really good spot,” McIlroy.
It had the feel of a mic drop moment but given that it was the first question posed to McIlroy in the press conference ahead of this week's BMW Championship, there was plenty of time to circle back. Later he was asked if he thought that it would
be helpful to the Tour’s future TV negotiations to have all the best players competing under one roof again.
“Eventually, yeah, maybe,” McIlroy said. “I'm not part of these discussions, but I'm pretty sure they're not going to be welcomed back straight away. If they were offered this returning member program back in February, the one that Brooks [Koepka] took, then, yeah, maybe. But that has sort of come and gone. And I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward, if they do decide to come back, isn't going to be as good as the one that Brooks got. So, yeah, I would say it's going to be a tough, tough road back.”
McIlroy was the most outspoken opponent of LIV among the pros who remained loyal to the Tour and served on the policy board and as an unofficial spokesperson for the Tour until being blindsided by the June 6, 2023, framework agreement with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which had been the renegade league's chief backer until removing the purse strings after losing more than $6 billion on the venture.
“I've kept my position consistent that LIV has never been a good thing for the game. So, and whatever 2.0 looks like, if it even happens, you know, they say they're trying to be more collaborative and all that. But I, this is, this is the best platform for the top professional golfers in the world,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, were there some things at the start of LIV that the PGA Tour could have done better? Sure. But I think that, you know, the guys that went, or you look, you think back to the start with, like, say, Phil (Mickelson) was unhappy with some stuff or whatever it was. Like, surely that just warranted a conversation instead of blowing the entire professional game up and doing something else.
“So I don't take any personal satisfaction of people like losing jobs. Like, that, that doesn't, that doesn't seem right. I've always felt like this is the best place to play professional golf. And I'm pretty sure if the PGA Tour were handed 6 billion dollars it would have done a better job with it.”
Scheffler, the world No. 1, expressed more of a welcoming approach – with some sort of punishment applied – to LIV players who he deemed able to bring added value to the Tour.
“Getting the best players competing against each other more often is I think what everybody wants,” he said, noting that it has been harder to determine the rankings when they don’t play as much head-to-head.
“When we talk about the best players, you know, LIV has a few players that are really good. I think the depth that we have on our Tour is bit unmatched, but I think when you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf there's definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the Tour, and guys that I love competing against as well.
"So I think going forward there obviously has to be, I think, some sort of penalties. What those are, I'll let [PGA Tour CEO Brian] Rolapp and all those guys figure it out. We have great leadership within the Tour now. But I think having those guys come back and competing with whatever happens with LIV, whether those guys want to leave, I mean, you got to ask them. But I think for me being able to compete against the best players in the world there's certainly some guys on that Tour that can compete out here and I look forward to the chance to compete with them more often.”
Adam Schupak is a Golfweek senior writer covering the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: What did Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler say about LIV golfers who might return to PGA Tour?
