Rory McIlroy has conceded he was “too judgmental” in his criticisms of those who joined the breakaway LIV Golf Tour.
McIlroy took a strident position against the big-money venture, which tempted a host of top names with lavish paydays and disrupted the established order of the PGA and European Tours.
The Northern Irishman became the de facto voice of opposition to the project, which has continued to divide the sport, and said during last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome that the likes of Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter would miss being part of the European team more than they would be missed.
Now, with talks ongoing to agree a merger between the rival parties, McIlroy has taken a tentative step towards rapprochement.
Speaking to Sky Bet’s Stick to Football podcast, he said: “I think at this point, I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV Golf at the start.
“I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realise that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger Woods’ position. I can’t judge people for making that decision, so if I regret anything, it was probably being too judgmental at the start.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve lost the fight against LIV, but I’ve just accepted the fact that this is part of our sport now.
“At the end of the day, we’re professional golfers and we play to make a living and make money, so I understand it.”
McIlroy remains unhappy at those who criticised the established tours after leaving, but did accept that the Saudi intervention did shine a light on problems that had gone overlooked for too long.
“I don’t begrudge anyone for going and taking the money and doing something different, but don’t try to burn the place down on your way out,” he added.
“When people have played that for 15 or 20 years, and then they jump to LIV and start talking crap about where they’ve come from, that is what bothers me, because they wouldn’t be in this position if they didn’t have the career they’ve had so far.
“I think what LIV has done… it’s exposed some of the flaws in the system and hopefully golf will have a look at more.
“If we’re going to ask these people (sponsors) for so much money, we need to be able to guarantee them what they’re getting.
“Part of the stuff that we’ve been trying to do for the last two years is figure out how we can try and bring golf back together again and learn from some of the things that have happened.”
Jon Rahm became the latest high-profile LIV acquisition within weeks of helping Europe to victory in a Ryder Cup triumph in Rome, a move McIlroy chalked up as calculated move against the backdrop of negotiations between the rival tours.
“I thought it was a smart business move from Jon – it’s opportunistic,” he said.
“(He) hasn’t got any of the heat for going like the first guys got for going.
“Jon is a smart guy and I think he sees things coming together at some point so he’s thinking that he’ll take the up-front money, which is his prerogative, and if things come together he’ll play LIV for a year then come back to play on the tour.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel