It has been over a month since the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced they were merging, but Rory McIlroy’s feelings toward the Saudi-backed league have not changed a bit.
The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on Tuesday on the proposed merger of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour. Records that were released during the hearing showed that representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund proposed an idea where McIlroy and Tiger Woods would become part-owners and captains of LIV Golf teams after the leagues merged.
McIlroy told the media after the first round of the Scottish Open on Thursday that he would rather retire than play under the LIV umbrella.
“If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire. That’s how I feel about it,” McIlroy said, via ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. “I’d play the majors, but I’d be pretty comfortable.”
A PGA Tour official told Schlabach that the idea of McIlroy and Woods joining LIV Golf was quickly shot down. McIlroy and Woods were likely given input before that decision was made.
McIlroy was extremely vocal in bashing LIV Golf when the league was first founded. He insisted after the merger was announced that he still hates LIV, though most people believe he now looks like a hypocrite.
