It takes about 100 million bucks to bag yourself an ageing PGA Tour player these days but Rory McIlrory still reckons there are some things money can’t buy.
The Northern Irish ace has found himself the figurehead of the fightback from golf’s old guard against the rise of the Saudi backed LIV Golf series.
McIlroy is happy to lead from the front and he made another passionate case for the Tour ahead of this week’s US Open at Brookline amid talk of more big name defections.
The 33-year-old is going nowhere as he’s not just interested in topping up his already bulging bank account.
McIlroy would rather top up his major championship haul and adding to the 21 titles he’s won on the PGA Tour – and there was some shade thrown in the direction of the rebels in the process.
He said: “I hope I'm still building on my legacy. In golfing terms, I'm still youngish. Even though I've been out here for a long time, I've basically spent half my life on tour at this point.
“It's very important to me. It means a lot, going back to history and tradition and putting your name on trophies that have the legends of the game on them. That's really cool, and that's something that money can't buy.
“Legacy, reputation, at the end of the day that's all you have. You strip everything away, and you're left with how you made people feel and what people thought of you.”
McIlroy is front and centre of the PGA PR war but it’s not a position he thought he was going to be in when he predicted the LIV Golf series was ‘dead in the water’ back in February.
It turns out the Northern Irishman’s big mistake was trusting some of his shiftier pals on the PGA circuit.
He said: “I guess I took a lot of players' statements at face value. I guess that's what I got wrong.
“You had people committed to the PGA Tour, and that's what the statements that were put out. People went back on that, so I guess I took them for face value. I took them at their word, and I was wrong.”
It’s not easy watching former chums being used by a regime for sports washing.
McIlroy said: “I don't think they're totally complicit in it. They all have the choice to play where they want to play, and they've made their decision.
“My dad said to me a long time ago, once you make your bed, you lie in it, and they've made their bed. That's their decision, and they have to live with that.”
McIlroy is not the kind of guy to come out and slaughter folk outright. His take is more of disapproving parent right now.
I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed.
None more so than with Phil Mickelson – the poster boy for the Saudi propaganda push.
Has McIlroy lost respect for the Californian?
He said: “As a golfer? No. He won a major championship 13 months ago, probably one of the crowning achievements of his career and one of the most impressive achievements in the history of the game of golf. As a golfer, I have the utmost respect for Phil.
“I've been disappointed with how he has went about what he has done, but I think he has come back and shown some remorse about how he has handled some things so I think he has learned from that.
“Who am I to sit up here and give Phil a lesson on how to do things? He has had a wonderful career. He is his own man. He is a great addition to the field this week.
“Am I disappointed he has taken the route that he has taken? I am, but I still respect him tremendously.”
It’s tough for McIlroy to go all guns blazing as pals such as Sergio Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have also jumped ship.
But he can’t fathom why any rising stars would opt to join them.
McIlory said: “I understand. Yes, because a lot of these guys are in their late 40s. In Phil's case, early 50s. I think everyone would say to you themselves that their best days are behind them.
“That's why I don't understand for the guys that are a similar age to me going because I would like to believe that my best days are still ahead of me, and I think theirs are too. So that's where it feels like you're taking the easy way out.
“I don't think it will strain any relationships. I'm still going to be close with the guys that have made the decision to play those events. It's not as if you agree on absolutely everything.”
But, hey, didn’t McIlroy jump from the European Tour to the US and the land of milk and more money?
It’s not the same though and he said: “To give yourself the best chance to further your career in terms of wins and legacy and trying to win major championships, America was the place to be.
“I don't think it was all to do with prize money. It certainly wasn't guaranteed. You had to show up and play well to earn it. That's the other thing, right?”
Fair point. On the LIV series, a duffer could finish stone last in all eight events and still bank a million bucks.
McIlroy will feel a million dollars if he can end his eight year major drought here in Boston this week and believes he has the game to do so.
He said: “The start of my career was probably more feast-or-famine in the majors. I would get hot and win or I would miss the cut by 10.
“I think my game is now at place where I feel confident going to these golf courses that are set up more difficult than everyday tour events and knowing that I have the game and the mentality to succeed on them.”
