'If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire' - Rory McIlroy
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Published 13/07/2023 at 16:35 GMT
Rory McIlroy was one of the more vocal critics of LIV Golf and he has said that he would not consider making an appearance on the breakaway circuit. Documents released on Tuesday suggested McIlroy's presence on LIV was one of the requirements of a proposed merger between the PIF and PGA Tour, but the Northern Irishman rubbished the suggestions and said he would rather retire.
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Rory McIlroy has said he would rather walk away from the sport than play LIV Golf.
After a year of acrimony between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the former announced a proposed merger with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) - the funding vehicle for LIV.
The proposed merger came out of the blue, with players on both sides of the divide taken aback by the news.
A United States Senate sub-committee has been investigating the deal - and documents released on Tuesday shed light on some of the discussions that took place prior to the announcement of the merger.
As well as PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan requesting membership of Augusta National and the Royal & Ancient golf clubs, it was put forward that McIlroy and Tiger Woods would be required to play LIV Golf - albeit those requests were never taken on as part of the merger.
McIlroy was one of the most vocal critics of LIV, and his feelings have not changed.
After making a fine start to the Scottish Open with a round of 64, McIlroy was asked about the revelations.
"There wasn't a lot of new information in there for me, there was maybe some new information for other people," McIlroy said. "I've almost been too close to it over the last year, so it's nice to be able to distance myself a bit from it.
"If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire. That's how I feel about it. I would play the majors, but I'd be pretty comfortable."
Xander Schauffele said before the Scottish Open that he was unhappy about being kept in the dark over the proposed merger, a similar position to Jordan Spieth, and McIlroy could understand the frustration.
"It's maybe not as serious for me because I sort of knew what was going on, so I wasn't as in the dark as some of the other guys," said McIlroy. "People felt blindsided by it and I can obviously understand why Jordan and Xander and other guys would feel that way."
"I've read a quote that they [PGA Tour] were negotiating their survival. That's a very fair thing for a business to do.
"I'm just apathetic towards all the noise around it. The thing I've realised, no matter what I do or say, or try to show leadership, I'm going to be just fine.
"I've tried to step up for maybe the guys that didn't have a voice early on, but I think with everything that's transpired over the last few weeks, the players are going to find themselves more and more at the table to try to get whatever it is that they want out of it."
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