Rory McIlroy Calls for ‘World Tour’ As Ideal Outcome of LIV-PGA Tour Negotiations

If men’s professional golf unites, McIlroy would like to see an emphasis on national opens and a cricket-inspired approach to team play.

The future of the men’s professional game might be in flux as the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund continue to negotiate an agreement, but Rory McIlroy has a proposal for how pro golf might be structured if a deal ever materializes.

Speaking to Golf Digest’s John Huggan ahead of his first start of 2024 at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Invitational, McIlroy described his “dream scenario” for the finalization of the framework agreement with a new level of detail. 

McIlroy thinks that a U.S.-focused “world tour” with a heightened emphasis on national opens would be ideal, all things considered. 

Rory McIlroy is starting his 2024 schedule in Dubai at a DP World Tour event :: John David Mercer/USA TODAY Sports

As the PGA Tour is an American-based sports organization and the PIF has been particularly interested in a global effort, the solution would be optimal from a financial standpoint, in addition to checking both parties’ boxes. The PGA Tour is also currently moving forward with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a group of U.S. private investors. 

“My dream scenario is a world tour, with the proviso that corporate America has to remain a big part of it all. Saudi Arabia, too. That’s just basic economics,” he told Golf Digest. “But there is an untapped commercial opportunity out there. Investors always want to make a return on their money. Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about $2.3 billion. So how do we get that number up to four or six? To me, it is by looking outward. They need to think internationally and spread their wings a bit. I’ve been banging that drum for a while.”

Within McIlroy’s suggested plan, tournaments like the Irish Open, Scottish Open, Australian Open and South African Open would be marquee events. And if all of the best players in the world are participating, the prestige of those tournaments would be naturally restored. 

The result, McIlroy says, would look a lot like Formula One’s schedule, but with the natural lean toward American venues. 

“Whether they are rotated on the new global circuit, or we go with the same ones every year, I’m O.K. with either,” he continued. “The Australian Open, for example, should almost be the fifth major. The market down there is huge with potential. They love golf. They love sport. They have been starved of top-level golf. And the courses are so good.

“The South African Open is another I’d have in the mix. Then you have places like Singapore and Hong Kong and Japan. What a market Japan represents. That would be another opportunity. We could end up with something that resembles Formula One, but with a little more of an American presence. Throw in the four majors and you have a brilliant schedule for the top 70-100 guys, whatever the number is. We’d have, say a 22-event schedule. That would look pretty good to me.”

The only element that’s missing from McIlroy’s concept is team golf, which has been central to the LIV Golf model. McIlroy, who recently seemed to soften his stance on LIV in a podcast interview, suggested how team golf might fit into a “world tour.” He pointed to cricket’s Indian Premier League as a potential model for how this could be done, and critiqued LIV’s current approach to team golf.

“If it is done like the IPL cricket model, team competition has a chance in golf,” he said. “I’ve said what I’ve said about LIV. I still think it is a confusing product. So what they need to do is lean more into the team stuff. If you want to make your team franchises valuable, especially if you’re not going to get World Ranking points, then dive deep into team golf. I could see an eight-event schedule with four events in the spring and four events in the fall. If it was an IPL-like team thing, I would enjoy it hugely. There is an opportunity there to do more within the bigger ecosystem.”