Rory power

Britain’s best columnist

IN an excellent interview with The Guardian’s Ewen Murray a few days ago, Rory McIlroy spoke as well as ever, utterly compelling and with unquestionable conviction.

He talks about how he cried when he failed to win The Open in the summer, but would not have cried if he had failed to win the FedEx Cup and the 18million bucks that went with it.

In other words, McIlroy (left) is at the stage of his career where some things are more important than money.

Which is why, it seems, he has been the poster boy for the PGA Tour and DP World Tour in their war against LIV Golf.

Again, he talks well on the subject.

But the bottom line is that he refuses to morally condemn the players who have joined LIV Golf.

He refuses to say that taking the Saudi money is complicity in backing a regime whose human rights policies are decried.

It seems McIlroy’s beef is that the LIV players have decided to step away from professional golf’s tried, tested and traditional model, where the United States-run PGA Tour is king.

It makes an impact when McIlroy comes out against LIV Golf… it would make more of an impact if he came out against LIV Golf because of who was bankrolling it.

AS the Formula One budget-cap story rumbles on, Max Verstappen Bull’s claims Red critics – Mercedes, presumably – anyway’. are ‘sore Too right. A race director’s call robbed their man of an eighth world title, don’t forget.