Irish pro golfer Rory McIlroy continues taking potshots at LIV Golf despite the merger between the Saudi-backed golf league and his cherished PGA Tour.
McIlroy started bashing LIV once again, this time at the Genesis Scottish Open, according to Fox News.
“If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire, that’s how I feel about it,” he spat out Thursday. “I’d play the majors, but I’d be pretty comfortable [not playing].”
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a second shot on the 14th hole during the third round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 24, 2023, in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The comment came on the heels of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — the principal Saudi office planning the partnership with the PGA Tour — which proposed that Tiger Woods and McIlroy become captains of their own golf teams after the merger is complete.
The proposal became public during Tuesday’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV. Apparently, though, the PGA Tour quickly shot that idea down.
“The PGA Tour, PIF, and the DP World Tour reached an agreement in June with a goal to ‘unify the game of golf, on a global basis,'” Fox added.
Of course, the whole merge idea shocked most in the world of golf. PGA Tour chief Jay Monahan had loudly insisted that there would never be negotiations between LIV and the PGA, and yet, in June, he was the very man to announce the merger plans.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addresses the media during a press conference before the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 22, 2022, in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
A number of golf pros said that the merger news blindsided them, including Xander Schauffele and Jordan Speith.
McIlroy said he fully understood how the two golfers felt.
“I wasn’t quite as in the dark as some of the other guys, but people felt blindsided by it, and I can obviously understand why Jordan [Spieth] and Xander [Schauffele] and a lot of the other guys would feel that way,” McIlroy said Thursday. “After everything that’s transpired over the last few weeks, the players are going to find themselves more at the table to try to get whatever that is they want out of it.”
Since the news exploded across the world of Golf, Monahan faced a flurry of calls for his resignation and then mysteriously took a leave of absence.
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