Rory McIlroy: Why match against LIV stars has bigger meaning

Rory McIlroy insists that next week’s made-for-TV match against two LIV Golf stars is an attempt to showcase peace at the top level of the men’s professional game.

PGA Tour stars McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will take on LIV’s Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka at Shadow Creek next week in an 18-hole match billed as the “Crypto.com Showdown.”

It is no surprise that the match is being promoted as a rivalry between the elite players across each side of the divide that has engulfed the sport over the past two years.

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Five-time major champion Koepka even suggested that this two vs two clash could be a precursor to a bigger “Ryder-Cup style” LIV vs PGA Tour showdown in the future.

Both tours continue to operate independently as the Saudi Public Investment Fund that backs LIV edges ever closer to finalising a peace deal with the American circuit.

And in the meantime, McIlroy wanted to show that this coming together was about exhibiting unity in the ongoing schism.

“I don’t know if it was to spur things with everything that went on, it was really about us taking this into our own hands a little bit and do something outside of either tour to not only give back to the fans, but to show them or at least let them know we’re trying,” McIlroy told reporters on Wednesday.

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“The players want to play together more often. I feel like we’re all in this holding pattern because of the negotiations and the deal and it’s not really good for anyone.”

The match held outside Las Vegas is not sanctioned by either the PGA Tour or LIV, and McIlroy also admitted that his circuit took some persuading before approving his participation.

“They’ve been very supportive,” McIlroy said. “It took a few conversations to get them to the point where they saw this could be a good thing in the long run. It took a few conversations. It wasn’t all smooth sailing but we got there in the end.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.