McIlroy shuns Premier League

Rory McIlroy has delivered a potentially fatal blow to the proposed Premier Golf League by ruling himself out of joining a breakaway circuit.

Under the proposals outlined in January by the World Golf Group, 48 players would compete in an 18-event season offering a total prize fund of $240 million (£183m).

The tournaments would be 54 holes rather than the traditional 72 and there would be an individual and team league format, with the weekly individual winner claiming $2m (£1.5m) of the $10m (£7.5m) purse.

However, ahead of the WGC-Mexico Championship, McIlroy said: “I’m out. The one thing I value is the fact that I have autonomy and freedom over everything I do. If you go and play in this other golf league you’re not going to have that.”