Ban ‘money-grabbers’ who join breakaway circuit, says Mcilroy
Rory Mcilroy says any top golfer signing up for a proposed Super Golf League would be “money-grabbing” and believes they should be banned from playing on the European Tour and PGA Tour.
Previously named the Premier Golf League, the breakaway plan resurfaced with reports of offers of more than $100 million to world No 1 Dustin Johnson and fellow major winners Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka to join.
Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, responded to the plan, fronted by Golf Saudi chief executive Majed Al Sorour, by warning that anyone signing up would be immediately suspended and face a lifetime ban from the circuit.
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley was equally forceful. “We are aligned with the PGA Tour in opposing, in the strongest possible terms, any proposal for an alternative golf league,” said Pelley in a statement.
Four-time major winner Mcilroy was one of the first players to say he had no interest in the Super Golf League, the initial plan for which was 48 players competing in a Formula One-style team and individual format over 18 worldwide tournaments.
The Northern Irishman has since taken over as chairman of the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council and, speaking ahead of an appearance in this week’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, he stressed that he is still firmly against the proposal.
“They first contacted me back in 2014, so this is seven years down the line and nothing has really changed,” said Mcilroy. “Maybe the source of the money's changed or the people that are in charge have changed, but nothing has happened. No sponsorship deals, no media deals, no players have signed up, no manufacturers have signed up. There's been so many iterations at this point.”
Mcilroy, an avid Manchester United fan, added: “Go back to what happened last week in Europe with the European Super League in football.
“People can see it for what it is, which is a money grab, which is fine if what you're playing golf for is to make
much money as possible. Totally fine, then go and do that if that's what makes you happy.
“But, I'm just speaking my own personal beliefs, I'm playing this game to try to cement my place in history and my legacy and to win major championships and to win the biggest tournaments in the world.“look, it's a complicated issue, but I just don't see at this point how it can get going.
The game of golf, whether it's a right thing or a wrong thing, is so about history. We still talk about Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen and Ben Hogan and all those guys because that's what this game is.
“It's steeped in history and the legacies that those guys have. If you move further away from that, you're basically losing the essence of what competitive golf is.”
According to the Daily Telegraph, the Saudi Arabia investors behind the circuit are also bidding to take control of the Asian Tour by significantly outbidding the PGA Tour. That
would provide the Super Golf League with venues for a start planned for September 2022, with other circuits, including the Sunshine Tour, the
Australasia Tour, the Japan Tour and the Korea Tour, also believed to be possible targets.
Asked if it would be sad if players who sign up lost the right to play on the European Tour and PGA Tour and became ineligible for the Ryder Cup, Mcilroy replied: “Well, no, because you have to protect your product, right? If I were in charge of the PGA Tour, I would do the same.
“You saw what happened last week with the European Super League. The top 12 clubs got together and said, ‘let's keep more of the money for ourselves’, and people didn't like that. It affects competition, it affects the integrity of competition. The model that the PGA Tour and the European Tour have, I don't think there's a better model for the game of golf because it gives everyone an opportunity to go out there and have a great week and change their lives.” Speaking to The Scotsman in September, Al Sorour said: “You will have resistance from different places. But I think it is a really great idea. It doesn’t have to be bad or good. It is something creative that we think is going to be the new world of golf eventually.”