Given another chance, Rory McIlroy would do things quite differently. Two years ago, the four-time Major winner was at the center of the PGA Tour’s war with LIV Golf. A lot of his past comments and choice words about LIV have come back to haunt him. 

Not that he regrets his involvement, but the Ulsterman just wishes he didn’t go all guns blazing. The four-time major winner is in Ontario for the RBC Canadian Open, where he won in 2022. Asked whether his entanglement affected his personal or professional life, McIlroy is adamant that it hadn’t. 

Regardless, Ulsterman added, “I think, in hindsight, I wish I hadn’t have gotten involved or not hadn’t have gotten involved, hadn’t have gotten as deeply involved in it, and I’ve articulated that.” Despite his past comments, McIlroy affirmed he held ‘no grudge’ and ‘no resentment over the guys that chose to go and play on LIV.” 

McIlroy, though, is not entirely convinced by LIV’s impact. Neither is happy about how LIV Golf crashed onto the scene. “My whole thing is I’m just disappointed to what it’s done to, not to the game of golf, the game of golf will be fine, but men’s professional golf and this sort of divide we have at the minute.”

Despite striking a conciliatory tone, Rory McIlroy finds himself at the receiving end of the Internet’s wrath. A section of golf fans still carry the wounds inflicted by the Ulsterman’s words. So, when McIlroy’s RBC Canadian press conference hit the media, they showed no mercy to the Northern Irish Pro.

Rory McIlroy has no moral compass, netizens claim

A section of fans questioned McIlroy’s motif. The Ulsterman has been singing a different tune since leaving the PGA Tour policy board in November. Rory McIlroy has called for a more globalized golf landscape. At the same time, he has also said that a deal with PIF is an absolute necessity; the sooner that happens, the better. 

Some believe Rory McIlroy is backpedaling because it suits his agenda now. One of them commented, “All he regrets is the backlash from it; he realized he got fooled and hates how he drank the koolaid.” One user believed McIlroy’s “motivations weren’t based in morality, which s*cks.” One user, however, questioned the credibility of the PGA Tour policy board. “There’s far too many unqualified people representing the players. 340 yd drives are meaningless in the boardroom.”

Rory McIlroy was caught off guard, by the June 6 merger announcement. Despite being a board member, the Ulsterman wasn’t aware of the ongoing negotiations between PGA Tour officials and PIF officials. McIlroy, at that same, said he felt like a ‘sacrificial lamb’. 

Netizens believe McIlroy has been on the wrong side of the war. One user wrote, “He was trying to be a team player and his team screwed him over.” Echoing a similar sentiment, another user commented, “Rory is just like us, used by his employer and tossed to the side when no longer needed”.  Notably, his attempt to re-enter the board didn’t find unanimous support from the sitting board members as well. 

Rory McIlroy has tried to bury the hatchet in the last couple of months. However, his attempts haven’t convinced disgruntled fans, who are still divided across the PGA Tour, and LIV Golf line.