Top 3 Times Rory McIlroy Made a U-Turn on LIV Golf Despite Long-standing Feud

Has Rory McIlroy gone soft on LIV Golf? A year and a half ago, McIlroy was one of the fiercest critics of the upstart league, blasting his former colleagues who jumped ship. The 24-time PGA Tour winner has burned quite a few bridges. But the changing scenario has also altered his approach towards the breakaway league.

McIlroy met the PIF chief, Yasir Al Rumayyan, in December 2022. That seemed to have changed his perception of the league for the first time. The four-time major champion himself suggested to the policy board that they needed to talk to the PIF chief instead of shutting him out. As the Tour, quite predictably, put back the merger deadline, we look at three of McIlroy’s changing stances regarding LIV Golf.

The dramatic Ryder Cup reversal 

Last year, McIlroy was supportive of the ban against veteran Ryder Cuppers such as Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Sergio Garcia for joining LIV Golf. In fact, the 2023 Ryder Cup winner said Henrik Stenson’s move to LIV Golf “was the best thing to happen to the 2023 Euro Ryder Cup.”

However, Rahm’s surprise about-turn caught him wrong-footed. Calling for a rule change, McIlroy said, “Jon is going to be in Bethpage in 2025, so, because of this decision, the tour are (sic) going to have to rewrite the rules for Ryder Cup eligibility. We didn’t NEED any of the others in Rome, and we didn’t miss them. We’d certainly miss and need Jon at Bethpage.”

Jon Rahm’s ‘smart’ LIV Golf move impressed Rory McIlroy

When LIV Golf came to the forefront, like many naysayers, Rory McIlroy also predicted doom for the Saudi-funded league. While a handful of the PGA Tour pros eventually bolted the league, McIlroy upped the ante. Speaking about its future, McIlroy said, “I mean, there’s no one [that will go]. It’s dead in the water.”

However, recently, the Northern Irish golfer said Rahm’s $566 million was a smart decision from the Spaniard. While the Tour is locked in talks with PIF for a possible truce, the four-time Major winner felt the Spaniard “sees things coming together at some point. … I thought it was a smart business move. It was opportunistic.”

Rory McIlroy will welcome LIV Golf but with a caveat 

There was a time when McIlroy was ready to quit playing golf rather than join the upstart league. But now the 34-year-old has accepted the reality that the PIF-funded league is here to stay. The 24-time PGA Tour winner said he would rather want LIV Golf to turn similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket.

In the IPL, a team event that lasts for roughly two months, players are offered a huge amount of money to play for a franchise. The schedule generally aligns with the ICC calendar. “If they were to do something like that, I would say, ‘Yeah, that sounds like fun’ because you are working within the ecosystem,” said the 34-year-old in the Overlap podcast.

Read More: One Year After Calling LIV Golf ‘Dead in the Water,’ Rory McIlroy’s New Stance About Greg Norman Led Tour Isn’t Surprising

Rory McIlroy, being inside the Tour Policy Board, has been a part of the negotiations with PIF. The 34-year-old has perhaps realized that waging a war against PIF, which is armed with $770 billion in riches, is an ill-conceived idea.

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