Rory McIlroy hits out at Phil Mickelson and LIV Golf “propaganda”

By now, Rory McIlroy is getting pretty adept at discussing the PGA Tour’s power struggle with LIV Golf.

Having found himself speaking on behalf of the tour in an unofficial capacity as it fights the threat posed by the Saudi-funded upstart league, he has for months fielded questions about the state of men’s professional golf.

Perhaps borne out of a hard-wired need to speak his mind, McIlroy has become the poster boy of the tour, both fronting and driving sweeping changes to combat its challenger.

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The saga took another twist last week when Phil Mickelson – who appears to have found his voice once more following a five-month hibernation – claimed the established circuit is “trending downwards”.

That, according to McIlroy (and others, such as Jon Rahm), is nonsense.

“I don’t agree with what Phil said,” he told reporters ahead of this week’s CJ Cup, which marks his first PGA Tour start of the season.

“I understand why he said it because of the position he is in but I don’t think anyone with a logical view can agree with what he said.”

Increasingly the discourse around professional golf has descended into a wall of noise as players on both sides – PGA Tour loyalists to one side, LIV rebels to the other – state their case.

But for McIlroy, only one side is to blame for the current state of “flux” engulfing the game.

“I have spoken about this at length,” he continued.

“I think the people that have decided to stay here and play these tournaments, they haven’t done anything different to what we have always done.

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“We are playing these events, we are PGA Tour members and we have stuck to the system that’s traditionally been there.

“The guys that have gone over to LIV, they’re the ones that have made the disruption and put the golf world in flux right now.

“For them to be talking the way they are – it’s bold, and there is a lot of propaganda being used and all sorts of stuff.

“I certainly don’t see the PGA Tour trending downwards at all. You have got 95% of the talent here.

“People like Tom Kim coming through; they are the future of the game.”