Rory McIlroy: Why PGA Tour doesn’t need LIV Golf deal

Rory McIlroy’s shift in attitude was notable on Wednesday as he addressed the PGA Tour’s prospective peace deal with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf.

Discussions between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund with the involvement of President Donald Trump at the White House ignited hope that the division in the men’s professional game could finally be about to end.

At Torrey Pines last month, an optimistic McIlroy said it was imperative the two sides join together. “Let’s move forward together and let’s just try to get this thing going again and do what’s best for the game,” he insisted.

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But when asked after a resurgence in TV ratings if the PGA Tour actually needs a deal ahead of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy struck a different tone.

“I think the narrative around golf, I wouldn’t say needs a deal, I think the narrative around golf would welcome a deal in terms of just having all the best players together again,” he said at Bay Hill.

“But I don’t think the PGA Tour needs a deal. I think the momentum is pretty strong. As you say, TV’s been good, TGL’s been hopefully pretty additive to the overall situation.

“And yeah I answered this question at Torrey Pines two weeks ago, before, you know, the landscape might have looked a little different then than it does now over these past couple of weeks, and I think a deal would still be the ideal scenario for golf as a whole.

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“But from a pure PGA Tour perspective, I don’t think it, I don’t think it necessarily needs it.”

So what’s changed?

“Look, I think it takes two to tango,” McIlroy said. “So if one party is willing and ready and the other isn’t, it sort of makes it tough.”

McIlroy isn’t convinced these highly-publicised White House talks have made any marked progress on a deal at all.

“I don’t think it’s ever felt that close, but I don’t, it doesn’t feel like it’s any closer,” he added.

Still, the ideal outcome for McIlroy has always been the same: The world’s best players competing together more regularly.

“I gave a lot of thought to it a couple of years ago,” he said. “You could create exemption categories that you try to capture who you want to capture, you know, major winners in the last three years, plus player champions, I don’t know. Again, not my department.”

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.