Rory McIlroy has softened his stance on LIV Golf in recent months and has now refused to rule out a move to the Saudi-backed venture.
Rory McIlroy has suggested there is a chance he could join the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf Tour (Richard Sellers/PA)
Rory McIlroy has dropped hints he may consider leaving the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, in an unfolding situation which may be greeted with great displeasire from Tiger Woods.
McIlroy, who is currently ranked number two in the world, initially took a hardline stance against the breakaway tour and stood shoulder to shoulder with Woods in aggressively opposing the high-roll Saudi venture – which attracted big names with generous pay and caused upheaval in the traditional structure of the PGA and European Tours.
However, even after stating last summer he would “rather retire” than defect to LIV, McIlroy’s view appears softer recently, especially since his Europe Ryder Cup team members Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton made a move from the PGA Tour.
McIlroys former agent Chubby Chandler has said there is a 10 per cent chance the Northern Irishman could join the LIV Golf Tour (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
McIlroy recently admitted, via Gary Neville’s Overlap podcast, that he had never been made an official offer by the powers that be at LIV Golf. Living golf legend Woods – McIlroy’s greatest ally in the sport – is understood to have quickly turned down an approach exceeding the £700m mark.
Now, McIlroy’s former manager Chubby Chandler has since hinted at a possible surprise LIV Golf switch for the Northern Irish star, a rumour which McIlroy didn’t entirely brush off ahead of the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens.
Chandler estimated the chance of such a move at 10 percent. When asked to comment on this percentage during a press conference before the tournament, McIlroy kept it vague: “Somewhere in the middle maybe. Who knows? “.
“I think he’s writing a book, so there is that. I spoke to Chubby, I might have seen him in the Middle East at the start of the year.”
“Never know. He might know a few things. Who knows?.”
McIlroys Ryder Cup team-mate Jon Rahm (left) has made the switch to LIV Golf for huge money (Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
McIlroy kicked off his 2024 season off on good form, coming second to Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational and claiming victory at the Dubai Desert Classic for an impressive fourth time.
Although, since returning to the PGA Tour this month, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the 34-year-old golf pro.
McIlroy, who tied for 66th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and got a share of 24th at the Genesis Invitational, spoke about his performances. “I feel like Pebble, the weather disrupted it and the courses were super soft,” he said, also mentioning his win in the pro-am part: “I won the pro-am portion, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.”
He reflected on his game at Riviera Country Club, saying: “And then Riv was pretty good. I made a mess of 15 and 16 on the first day but apart from that, I felt like I played some pretty good golf.”
McIlroy feels confident about his game, adding: “I feel like my game is in pretty good shape. You know, it’s nice to stay at home this week and feel a little more I guess relaxed in the surroundings.”
When talking about what makes a successful season, McIlroy, who has 24 PGA Tour wins, noted: “I guess it comes down to wins and season-long titles and major championships.”
He acknowledged the importance of majors in his legacy: “I can’t sit here and say that the last 10 seasons haven’t been successful because I haven’t won a major.”
“But at the same time, I recognize that whenever all is said and done I’m going to be judged on those tournaments a lot.”
McIlroy concluded with a focus on victory: “Hopefully among other things as well but, yeah, winning is always good. The more wins you can get the better.”
