Rory McIlroy shot a 4-under 67. Friday Tourist Championship Round 2 It’s no surprise he’s in the top 10 at a tournament he’s won four times, but the big topic in the golf world is the future of LIV Golf, even though the world No. 2 is in contention in Charlotte.
That included McIlroy’s post-round press conference, where he spoke for the first time about LIV losing funding from the Saudi PIF. McIlroy is no longer leading the charge against LIV, choosing to take a more diplomatic tone when discussing rival tours, but he can’t help but take the opportunity when it presents itself.
“I think everyone kind of knows my views on LIV and its place in the golf world, and I don’t think there’s any need to rehash it,” McIlroy said. “It’s never been that way for me, and it doesn’t mean LIV is going away. They’re going to go find an alternative investment, whatever that is. But when one of the richest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks your investment is too expensive for them, that says something.”
Many of our conversations over the next few weeks LIV funding concerns made news There has been talk of stars like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau potentially returning to the PGA Tour. Rahm is still under contract and recently said he couldn’t see a way to get out of his contract, while DeChambeau will become a free agent after the 2026 season.
However, he has expressed concerns about returning to the PGA Tour, specifically citing policies around content creation and the limitations he may face in making the most of his YouTube channel if he returns.
Asked what the path should be for players who left LIV to return, McIlroy said he wanted the PGA Tour to be as strong as possible, but said he felt the real question was whether LIV players really wanted to come back.
“It’s a question of whether they want to come back or not. Obviously, we’ve looked at the market the last few days,” McIlroy said. “And some of the players, it seems like if — again, it all depends on what happens with LIV — but if the scenario is that they have the option to go back and play on a traditional tour, you know, I think Brian Rolup said anything that makes this tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger. I think everyone should embrace that. That’s good business practice.”
This is consistent with what Mr. Lorup said in a recent interview. including FridayBut he also mentioned the scars that still exist from bringing back some players who left and were particularly cocky about their departures, namely DeChambeau.
Asked specifically about players on the fence about whether they want to return to the tour, McIlroy again began diplomatically, before finishing with a pointed remark about players who would choose not to play on the PGA Tour if given the chance.
“That’s totally fine. And I think I said it at the beginning, I was probably too judgmental with the players that were in there because maybe I was looking at it from my perspective and not looking at it from another perspective. But again, I’m not going to criticize anyone because they don’t want to play on the PGA Tour.”
“Does that mean they’ll be on the DP World Tour? If that’s the way to go, the DP World Tour will be stronger and it’s my home tour, so I’m happy about that.
“But this is — if you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be. If you don’t want to play here, I think that says something about you.”
McIlroy didn’t name names in his answer, but reading between the lines it seems like he was specifically commenting on DeChambeau.
The growing rivalry between McIlroy and DeChambeau has been one of the best storylines in golf in recent years, with DeChambeau defeating McIlroy at the U.S. Open and Rory getting his revenge at the 2025 Masters and Ryder Cup. Now, DeChambeau’s future is suddenly in flux, as he not only has the upper hand in rivalries on the track, but off the track as well.
While McIlroy has no intention of taking a public victory lap over the apparent demise of LIV Golf, he is still willing to attack his rivals. Rather than push back on the possibility of these top stars returning to the PGA Tour, he is issuing a challenge to come back and once again compete with the world’s best players. Because how can you consider yourself a world-class competitor if you don’t do what it takes to earn that opportunity?
