Rory McIlroy has admitted he feels like a “sacrificial lamb” after the PGA Tour struck a deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
And the four-time Major winner insisted he still “hates” LIV Golf. But the Ulsterman has given his grudging approval to the Saudi takeover of world golf by admitting: “At the end of the day, money talks." The bombshell news of a deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the PIF stunned golf on Tuesday.
The four-time Major winner has been a vocal critic of the breakaway league which started in Hertfordshire a year ago.
And speaking before his defence of the RBS Canadian Open, McIlroy said: “It is hard for me not to feel like a sacrificial lamb. I have put myself out there. I can see that this is better for golf. As an individual, there are going to be conversations.”
McIlroy won his 21st PGA Tour title at the Canadian exactly a year ago during the first LIV Golf event - and said he had been motivated to overtake the mark he shared with LIV commissioner Greg Norman. And the world No. 3 said coverage of the merger has been “misconstrued."
He explained: “LIV Golf has got nothing to do with it. I still hate LIV Golf. You have to look that in ten years it is going to be good for the game. I don’t understand a lot of the intricacies of what is going on.
"Whether you like it or not, the PIF were going to keep spending money in golf. How can you get the money into the game and spend it in the right way. At least the PGA Tour can now control that. At the end of the day, money talks.”
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Asked about sportswashing and the power of Saudi money, McIlroy added: “I have come to terms with it. I have just resigned myself to the fact that it is going to happen. It is very hard to keep up with people that have more money than anyone else.”
September's Ryder Cup event in Rome is now set to be a star-studded affair, although McIlroy has previously argued that the European side should not consider rebel LIV players. And he's maintained that there should still be consequences for those who defected.
"There still has to be actions," he argued, reiterating the way he wants the LIV concept to end. "The people who left the PGA Tour, we can't just let them back in."
