Rory McIlroy Says LIV Golf–PGA Tour Feud ‘Has Gotten Way Out of Control Already’

The new world No. 1 may not have helped the ‘us vs. them thing’ by saying he felt a ‘betrayal’ regarding the Ryder Cup, which Ian Poulter took issue with.

As LIV Golf prepares to play its final event of what has been a tumultuous year in golf, Rory McIlroy—the new No. 1–ranked player in the world—said in an interview that the feud with the PGA Tour is “out of control” and he fears the long-term ramifications.

In an interview with The Guardian, McIlroy said the “us vs. them thing has gotten way out of control already.”

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series plays its eighth event this week at Trump Doral in what is being called the Team Championship.

The circuit, which will transition to a 14-event “league” in 2023, has lured several top players, including reigning British Open and Players Championship winner Cam Smith, ’20 Masters winner Dustin Johnson, Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson and several other past major winners.

McIlroy has been critical of the new circuit and the tension it has caused in the game.

“If the two entities keep doubling down in both directions, it is only going to become irreparable,” McIlroy said. “We are going to have a fractured sport for a long time. That is no good for anyone.”

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has said he is not interested in a meeting with LIV Golf officials, who have offered huge sums in the form of guaranteed contracts and big purses.

After staging seven events paying purses of $25 million, this week’s team championship has a $50 million purse. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is the source.

“I don’t necessarily think their intentions are bad,” McIlroy said in the interview. “I think they have been misguided in how to spend the money.”

A lawsuit originally involving 11 LIV players and now the organization itself has been filed for antitrust violations against the PGA Tour. Only three players remain as part of that suit. The PGA Tour has countersued.

McIlroy had previously taken issue with comments made by Mickelson two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia.

“And I see LIV Golf trending upwards; I see the PGA Tour trending downwards and I love the side that I’m on,” Mickelson said.

Asked about those comments Wednesday at Doral, Mickelson said: “Maybe I shouldn’t have said stuff like that. I don’t know, but if I’m just looking at LIV Golf and where we are today to where we were six, seven months ago and people are saying this is dead in the water, and we’re past that. And here we are today, a force in the game that’s not going away, and that has players of this caliber that are moving professional golf throughout the world and the excitement level. … It’s pretty remarkable how far LIV Golf has come in the last six, seven months. I don’t think anybody can disagree with that.”

Asked about McIlroy’s comments in The Guardian suggesting the two sides get together, Mickelson said, “I think a lot of Rory. I have the utmost respect for him, and I look at what he’s done in the game and how he’s played this year and his win last week and No. 1 in the world now, and I have a ton of respect for him.

“We’ll have three months off after this event to talk about things like that and so forth, but this week something is happening that I don’t want to deflect focus on.”

Mickelson was referring to the team event that LIV is staging to conclude its season.

McIlroy also referenced another team event—the Ryder Cup. European team stalwarts Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson have joined LIV, with Stenson losing his 2023 Ryder Cup captaincy over it.

“I think it is the first time in my life that I have felt betrayal, in a way,” McIlroy said. “You build bonds with these people through Ryder Cups and other things. Them knowing what they are about to do is going to jeopardize them from being a part of that ever again?

“I would like to think the Ryder Cup means as much to them as it does to me. Maybe it does. But knowing what the consequences could be, I just could never make that decision.”

Poulter said that as of now, it is still possible for him to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team; a court decision looms in February as to whether LIV Golf players can compete in DP World Tour events.

“I’m still ready to play as much as I possibly can and try and make that team,” Poulter said. “Look, my commitment to the Ryder Cup I think goes before me. I don’t think that should ever come into question. I’ve always wanted to play Ryder Cups and have played with as much passion as anyone else that I’ve ever seen play a Ryder Cup.

“I don’t know where that comment really has come from, to be honest.”