Rory McIlroy: Why LIV Golf is stuck in “no man’s land”

Rory McIlroy believes LIV Golf’s failure to innovate has left the league in “no man’s land.”

McIlroy and Tiger Woods’ new technology-driven TGL launches next year and the Northern Irishman was offering his views on LIV at the press conference for his new team Boston Common, while comparing his own venture’s future plans.

The four-time major champion argues that TGL can attract a younger audience to golf, but he thinks LIV’s 54-hole, no cut format is lacking in innovation.

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“This is meant to be complementary,” McIlroy said, stressing that his new indoor league has been made to co-exist with the PGA Tour.  “It’s not meant to be disruptive in any way.

“So, whenever Mike [McCarley] brought this idea to Tiger and I, I think one of the first things we said was, ‘Well, if you’re going to do this. we’re going to have to try and partner with the PGA Tour in some way and really try to make this complementary.’

“So that was the first thing. This wasn’t adversarial at all. It was how to be, ‘How can we be additive to the entire system?’”

“We’re [trying] to be competitive and it’s a different type of golf but it’s not the traditional golf that you see week in, week out.

“I don’t want to sit here and talk about LIV, but you could make the argument that they haven’t innovated enough from what traditional golf is or they have innovated too much that they’re not traditional golf.

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“They’re sort of cut in no man’s land where as [TGL] is so far removed from what we know golf to be.”

While McIlroy is clearly still no fan of LIV, he still “sincerely hopes” the PGA Tour can strike a deal with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund bankrolling the enterprise.

Talks between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF are still ongoing ahead of a self-imposed December 31 deadline, but external interest from billionaire US investors has complicated negotiations.

“I feel like we’ve got a fractured competitive landscape right now and I would prefer if everyone sort of got back into the same boat. I think that’s the best thing for golf,” he told CNBC.

“I would hope when we go through this process, the PIF are the ones that are involved in the Framework Agreement.

“Obviously, there’s been other suitors that have been involved and offering their services and their help. But hopefully, when this is all said and done, I sincerely hope that the PIF are involved and we can bring the game of golf back together.”

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.