Rory McIlroy has told the Guardian (opens in new tab) that he fears golf will be “fractured” for a long time if the PGA Tour and LIV continue “doubling down in both directions.”
The four-time Major winner and new World No.1 has been the figurehead for the PGA Tour throughout 2022 amid the emergence of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf. He has been highly critical of LIV but wants the game to unite, having recently said he’s “all for getting round the table and sorting things out.”
“This ‘us versus them’ thing has gotten way out of control already,” McIlroy told the Guardian’s Ewan Murray (opens in new tab).
“If the two entities keep doubling down in both directions, it is only going to become irreparable. We are going to have a fractured sport for a long time. That is no good for anyone.
“My life is not going to change whether people go to LIV or they don’t. But I care. It mightn’t change our life but it will the guys grinding their asses off to get a tour card. There’s a lot of people in the game who don’t have the voice or the platform I have so I am trying to speak up for them a little, too.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the Northern Irishman also spoke about his Ryder Cup colleagues that have left for LIV Golf, with his relationships now essentially gone despite sharing multiple team rooms and jubilant victories with the likes of Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter. He described them leaving for the Greg Norman-fronted series as “betrayal”, with all LIV players likely to be forced out of the Ryder Cup, even if they win court cases to allow them to continue on the DP World Tour.
“It’s a weird thing,” McIlroy said of his fellow Europeans. “I think it is the first time in my life that I have felt betrayal, in a way. It’s an unfamiliar feeling to me. You build bonds with these people through Ryder Cups and other things.
“Them knowing that what they are about to do is going to jeopardise them from being a part of that ever again? There was a great opportunity for GMac to maybe be the captain at Adare in 2027….
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly RSS Feed…