Greg Norman has long talked about LIV Golf being good for the game — and so it has proved, albeit 3,500 miles away from the new series’ inaugural event.
Rory McIlroy has long been outspoken of the perils of LIV and admitted after winning the Canadian Open that beating Norman’s PGA Tour win tally of 20 had been the motivating factor for his scintillating final round.
If the PGA Tour had been looking for the perfect advert for all that it is good about it, it came in the final 18 holes in Toronto. Justin Rose’s shot at the 18th for a record-breaking round of 58 was a mere sideshow, as McIlroy slugged it out alongside Justin Thomas and Tony Finau in a thrilling finale to win by two strokes.
And McIlroy pointedly brought up Norman and the Saudi billions bankrolling golf’s rebel series in the aftermath of his 21st Tour victory.
“I had extra motivation of what’s going on across the pond,” said McIlroy. “The guy that’s spearheading that has 20 wins on the PGA Tour and I was tied with him. I wanted to get ahead of him and I did. So, that was really cool, just a little sense of pride on that one. This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time.”
McIlroy had five birdies on the front nine and started the back nine with three straight birdies before two late bogeys left him in danger of losing out on a first title win since the CJ Cup in October. But birdies on the final two holes gave him a two-stroke advantage over Finau in second, with Thomas a further two shots back. Rose’s late charge was enough to give him a share of fourth place.
McIlroy has been every bit the spokesman both for the Tour and against LIV Golf in recent weeks, and backed that up on the course.
“It’s incredible playing with Tony and JT today, two of the top players in the world, all of us playing the way we did,” he said. “The worst score in the group was six-under. It was pretty entertaining being part of it — the crowd, the calibre of play, everything about today was first class, which this Tour is. It’s the best Tour in the world, with the best talent.”
Meanwhile, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who suspended the Tour rebels shortly after the first LIV event got under way in St Albans, has spoken publicly about the split for the first time.
“It’s been an unfortunate week created by some unfortunate decisions, those decisions being players choosing to violate our tournament regulations,” he said. “It’s my job to protect, defend and celebrate our loyal PGA Tour members — and that’s exactly what I did.”
