Rory McIlroy hoping golf set for ‘bit of a reset’ after ‘false economy’ of LIV

Rory McIlroy hopes men’s golf can now have a reset after LIV Golf’s attempts to “destroy” the DP World Tour.

LIV Golf is attempting to relaunch next year with new money from BC Partners Capital after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund withdrew its support having ploughed in five billion US dollars (£3.7bn) over four years.

In order to do that it has had to apply for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and, as a result, it has had to cancel the contracts of all its existing players, clearly in the hope that they will re-sign on new terms for LIV 2.0 in 2027.

Jon Rahm’s release saw him give up all claims against LIV’s bankruptcy estate, reported to be up to 150million US dollars (£113m), while Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Tyrrell Hatton, Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood have all confirmed their futures lie elsewhere.

DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings said in an interview with The Scotsman he had been told one of LIV’s aims had been to “destroy” the tour, and warned any players looking to return would have to prove “themselves in the system”.

World number two McIlroy has continually spoken out on the breakaway tour, and hopes the men’s game can now look to move forwards again.

“I agree with everything that Guy said,” McIlroy told a press conference ahead of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, the penultimate event in the Race to Dubai in which the Northern Irishman currently sits third behind Eugenio Chacarra and Patrick Reed.

“They took players, they took sponsors, they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European (DP World) Tour.

“I think people that don’t agree are probably very short-sighted. There was some of the money that they used the right way, created the International Series on the Asian Tour, great for a couple years, but where did that leave the Asian Tour? They left them high and dry.

“Asian Tour came back into the fold, did a partnership with the PGA Tour and the European Tour… again, this was always going to be the case.

“It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realised they weren’t going to get any return on investment, or they were going to leave the golf space and go invest in something else and invest in something that would actually make them money.

“I think for long-term sustainability for men’s professional golf, I think we are in a much better spot.”

Double Masters champion McIlroy feels the whole LIV Golf saga will be reflected on as “a very strange time”.

He added: “They created a false economy within men’s professional golf, and I think that there is going to be a bit of a reset here, just for things to be a little bit more sustainable. Some players will argue that is not good for players, but I think that’s very short-term thinking.

“If you want sustainable tours, and we want these tours to be around in 50 years’ time, there has to be sustainable business practices in place to make sure they are.”

LIV Golf has been contacted for comment by the Press Association.

Despite some players having expressed reservations over the closing tournament of the season being played in the United Arab Emirates because of unrest in the region, McIlroy has no concerns.

“Obviously the DP World Tour are talking to the local authorities all the time. If everyone deems that it’s safe to be here, then who am I to say otherwise?” he added.

Former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took part in the pro-am event on Wednesday, playing alongside England’s Tommy Fleetwood.