Rory McIlroy has claimed LIV Golf officials were saying they 'wanted to destroy the European Tour' during their visit to The Masters this year. McIlroy successfully defended his Green Jacket at Augusta National in April, less than three weeks before Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it would end funding for LIV Golf at the end of the season. LIV Golf has since acquired new investment as they look to relaunch in 2027, despite many high-profile players - including Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia - confirming they wouldn't re-sign with the league and would return to the DP World Tour.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings told The Scotsman last week that LIV Golf looked to 'destroy' the European circuit, having targeted DP World Tour events and sponsors, with McIlroy backing those suggestions and questioning the rival circuit. "I agree with everything that Guy [Kinnings] said," McIlroy admitted ahead of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, live on Sky Sports. "They [LIV Golf] took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race.
"They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy The European Tour (DP World Tour). Yeah, I agree with everything. I think people that don't agree are probably very short-sighted.
"There was some of the money that they used the right way, created the International Series on the Asian Tour, great for a couple years, but where did that leave the Asian Tour? They left them high and dry. "Asian Tour came back into the fold, did a partnership with the PGA Tour and the European Tour - again, this was always going to be the case.
"It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realised they weren't going to get any return on investment, or they were going to leave the golf space and go invest in something else and invest in something that would actually make them money. "I think for long-term sustainability for men's professional golf, I think we are in a much better spot." Sky Sports reached out to LIV Golf for comment over Kinnings' claims, since reiterated by McIlroy. Rahm said on Tuesday he left LIV Golf because he "wasn't willing to follow" the path that the new iteration of the circuit was taking, with McIlroy hoping that the men's game can now stabilise after a turbulent few years.
"We'll look back on it as a very strange time," McIlroy added. "It gave players a lot of leverage over the tours and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing for the overall health of the professional game. "They created a false economy within men's professional golf, and I think that there is going to be a bit of a reset here - just for things to be a little bit more sustainable.
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