Rory McIlroy: “I regret having been so involved”
"They shouldn't be here. What they're doing has no meaning," McIlroy sent a week before facing all his adversaries again for the US Open at Brookline
On June 12, 2022, Rory McIlroy, dressed in pink, stands on the 18th green at the Hamilton Golf & Country Club, moments after winning the RBC Canadian Open for the second time. After a few words about his victory, the Northern Irishman then lashes out at the dissident LIV Golf circuit, which has just launched on the other side of the ocean in the suburbs of London.
“They shouldn’t be here. What they’re doing has no meaning,” McIlroy sent a week before facing all his adversaries again for the US Open at Brookline.
Rory McIlroy, results
Two years later, much has changed, and the Briton has taken the opportunity to soften his stance.
He even went so far as to say that it was in the PGA Tour’s interest to work with, rather than against, the founders of LIV Golf, namely the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. “I’m a sacrificial lamb” A year after the emergence of LIV, McIlroy had already once revisited his role in this circuit war, mentioning the feeling of being a “sacrificial lamb.” This week, the world number 3 added to his sentiments: “Looking back, I regret being so involved.
Or being as involved as I was.” He continued: “I’ve said I don’t hold it against the guys who chose to go play on the LIV. Everyone has their own decisions to make, and everyone has the right to make those decisions. I’m just disappointed in what it’s done.
Not to the game of golf, the game of golf will be fine, but to men’s professional golf and the sort of divide that we have right now. Hopefully, we’re on the right track to sort that out, but looking back, I regret being as involved as I was.” As a reminder, Rory McIlroy, whose aborted return to the PGA Tour player council occurred in recent weeks due in part to his stance in favor of reconciliation with the PIF, has reaffirmed his eternal loyalty to the PGA Tour.