Smylie Kaufman says he has to applaud Rory McIlroy for doing what Scottie Scheffler has rarely done over the last few years

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While Scottie Scheffler has been the best golfer on the planet over the last couple of years, it seems safe to say that barely anyone on the PGA Tour attracts quite the same attention as Rory McIlroy.

Of course, while Tiger Woods is in a league of his own, Rory McIlroy has arguably lived up to expectations with regards to becoming a superstar of the game. It says everything that it would almost be underwhelming if the Northern Irishman finished his career with four majors.

McIlroy has shown glimpses of improving further in the last couple of years. He has finished second at three majors over the last three seasons, while he has already claimed his first win on the PGA Tour in 2025 after securing victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

But clearly, McIlroy is amongst those looking to catch Scottie Scheffler, with the world number one winning nine times worldwide in the last 12 months.

Smylie Kaufman praises Rory McIlroy for what Scottie Scheffler does not do

However, it seems that there is one area where McIlroy has definitely managed to outshine Scheffler over the last few years.

McIlroy has come in for a lot of criticism since LIV Golf started up. The 35-year-old has never shied away from giving his opinion on the league and the state of the professional game, despite the fact that his opinions have clearly changed considerably as time has gone on.

McIlroy was criticised for his latest comments, having suggested that the PGA Tour players have benefitted from LIV coming about. But speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman suggested that he deserves some praise from being prepared to speak his mind.

“The one other thing I’ll say about Rory in this is he didn’t have to answer these questions over the last however many years. So I will say that there’s been plenty of times I’ve disagreed with Rory, but I also will applaud him too in the same breath because Scottie Scheffler, for instance, he hasn’t given much of an opinion on where he wants the game of golf to go. He just shows up with a tee time looking to win. And dude, that’s great, that’s what Tiger Woods would have done too when he was playing his best golf,” he said.

“Although Rory maybe has kind of gone all over the place and you don’t really know whose side he’s on sometimes, I still give him credit for trying to get the game back together because once he realised, ‘oh c–p, we can’t just win the cash battle against PIF long-term and eventually you’ll just have a more fractured golf landscape’. Luckily, I think he saw it and was willing to die on the hill and was probably going to lose the respect of some PGA Tour players along the way.”

McIlroy was let down by the PGA Tour after criticism of LIV Golf

When LIV Golf started up, players were constantly asked about where their futures lied. And clearly, those comments came back to haunt a number of players who then went on to join LIV.

McIlroy seemed to be the strongest in his condemnation of the league. So it would have been no surprise if he felt a sense of betrayal when the framework agreement was announced. And his stance has definitely softened – with McIlroy now highlighting how he has been better off since LIV started up.

It seems inevitable that the PIF are going to have a seat at the table when it comes to deciding golf’s future, and obviously, McIlroy has now accepted that eventuality.