When the history books are written about the split between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in the years to come, the two players likely to receive the most prominent roles are surely Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy.
The way Phil Mickelson‘s departure from the PGA Tour was handled surely tainted his legacy beyond repair in the eyes of many. Meanwhile, no one was a more outspoken critic of LIV Golf than Rory McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman initially made no secret of his disdain for the breakaway league. It is remarkable to look back now and see McIlroy claim Henrik Stenson joining LIV was the best thing to happen to the European Ryder Cup team ahead of 2023’s event in Rome, with the Swede being replaced as captain by Luke Donald.
Of course, McIlroy was put in an extremely awkward position when the framework agreement between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia – the owners of LIV Golf – was announced in June 2023 in a move which left the golfing world stunned.
What Rory McIlroy felt the PGA Tour could try and take from LIV Golf
The five-time major champion’s stance has definitely softened as time has gone on. McIlroy admitted there was a place for LIV in the sport’s future in early 2024. It was hard not to think that Jon Rahm‘s defection in the months following the Ryder Cup played its part in McIlroy’s view changing.
And in May 2024, McIlroy was asked on the How Leaders Lead podcast what he would like to see the PGA Tour take from LIV Golf.
“I think tapping into a different demographic. You talk about being a golf purist and a traditionalist, and I think that the PGA Tour appeals to that type of golf fan, where LIV appeals to a completely different demographic,” he said.
“The average age of a golfer here in the United States is over 60 years old. So how can you tap into this younger demographic where hopefully they’re going to watch golf for the remainder of their life? So being a little more forward thinking and having a little more vision is I think something that LIV has done pretty well. 54 holes, shotgun starts, the team element, there’s a few things to me that they haven’t quite got right, but I don’t know if that’s completely their fault. They had to launch at some point and they launched with a product that wasn’t fully thought out but they had to go with it. And they’ve gained a little traction. I wouldn’t say they’ve gained a lot of traction, but they’ve definitely been a disrupter in the game of golf. And sometimes things need a shake up and if anything, it was a bit of a wake-up call for the PGA Tour to maybe focus a little bit more on the future.
“There’s so many in-built advantages that the PGA Tour has over LIV in terms of the commercial contracts and media rights deals. There’s so many things that they have that LIV don’t, but at the end of the day, all of that stuff goes away, the sponsorship deals, the media rights, if people aren’t willing to watch and engage with the product that you’re putting out there.”
How Rory McIlroy reflects on changing his mind about LIV Golf over the last four years
One of the important storylines in McIlroy’s 2025 season has arguably been his spat with the media which meant that he barely spoke to the press during the PGA Championship or the US Open.
McIlroy hit out at the media at Oakmont, noting that he had a problem from the previous month’s major. News that McIlroy’s driver had failed testing at Quail Hollow had leaked to the press, and it was only his name which got out initially.
You would imagine that McIlroy’s weariness with the media was partially due to the fact that he had to answer for so many of his previous comments about LIV in recent years.
But on the same podcast, McIlroy explained why he is not afraid to change his mind on an issue.
“I think the one thing that I have learned through this whole process is to be a little more open-minded. I think once you have a position and you dig your heels in, it’s very hard to get out of that position. And I would say I learned because I was a little bit that way too. I think you have to be open-minded. Again, going back to what I said at the start, you have to be able to see things from the other side,” he said.
“Being able to change your mind is one of the greatest things in the human experience, because if you can’t change your mind based on new information, then that’s not a great place to start from,” he added. “I think, for me, being able to change my mind on this based on new information and trying to be a little more open-minded and trying to talk to people from the other side, yeah, of course, you’re going to hear both arguments and both sides and you’re going to make your mind up and see where you land.
“I feel like I’ve got a little bit of criticism for changing my mind. But I actually view being able to change my mind as a good thing. I don’t think it’s flip-flopping, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I truly think someone that’s able to change their mind based on new information is an open-minded person.”
It would be fascinating to know what the new information is in McIlroy’s mind. Perhaps it is simply an acceptance that criticising LIV until it goes away is just not going to work.
It is also clear that McIlroy’s stance on LIV was not shared by a number of the world’s best players.
At the time, it felt like a significant hurdle for LIV to clear to have players like McIlroy switch their attention to bringing the world’s best players back together more often.
And there were hopes earlier this year that a deal was imminent. Tiger Woods said a merger was close at the Genesis Invitational.
However, as 2025’s major championship season comes to a conclusion, the golfing world is still waiting to find out just how the landscape is going to look in the long run.
McIlroy’s experience throughout the last four years shows ruling absolutely anything out right now is nearly impossible.
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