Bury LIV and I’m happy: McIlroy
RORY McIlroy has delivered a withering attack on the LIV Golf breakaway series but says that he has softened his stance on Saudi Arabian investment in his sport.
As players gather for this week’s 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, the fourtimes major winner told CBS: “There’s no room in the golf world for LIV Golf. I don’t agree with what LIV is doing. If LIV went away tomorrow, I’d be super happy.”
The US-based PGA Tour has banned its members who have joined LIV Golf, including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau.
The DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, has issued temporary suspensions and fines for its members, but last week Ian Poulter and two other players gained an injunction to “abate” the sanctions, pending an appeal.
The sanctions do not affect the majors, which are run independently of the tours.
McIlroy’s objection is that the LIV Golf Invitational Series only caters for 48 players and his belief is that they are trying to “own golf”.
But having once said he was concerned about where the money was coming from – LIV Golf has been criticised due to Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record – McIlroy has changed his tune.
He said: “My stance on where the money is coming from is where I’ve sort of softened because I just look at every other sport and I see the money that’s going in there and I can see what benefits that has,” McIlroy said.
“It’s hard because, ultimately, do you want more money being invested into the PGA Tour? I think, yes, that would be great. And if these guys are willing to do that and scrap the whole LIV thing.”
Meanwhile, the United States Justice Department has waded into golf’s bitter power struggle and has started an antitrust investigation into the PGA Tour.
Several managers and agents have been contacted for information about the US-based tour’s rules regarding allowing players to appear in LIV Golf events.
LIV Golf chiefs believe that players are independent contractors who should be free to play where they want, but the existing tours say they cannot play elsewhere without “conflicting event” releases. A PGA Tour spokesman said the Justice Department development was “not unexpected”.