Rory McIlroy had quite the finish to his 2021-22 PGA Tour season. After opening his Tour Championship with a triple bogey, he came all the way back to take down world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler for his record third FedEx Cup.
Now, he’s in Surrey, England, for the BMW PGA Championship, one of the DP World Tour’s flagship events. Joining him are fellow Tour stars Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and defending champion Billy Horschel, among others.
However, to the displeasure of many players in the field, 18 members of the LIV Golf Series will also be competing at Wentworth just a few days after their event in Boston wrapped with Dustin Johnson coming out on top thanks to a lengthy eagle putt on the first playoff hole.
“I honestly don’t think that the American guys who haven’t supported the Tour should be here. Abraham Ancer, Talor Gooch. … you’ve never played this tournament, you’ve never supported the DP World Tour,” Horschel said on Tuesday. “Why are you here? You are here for one reason only and that’s to try to get world ranking points because you don’t have it (on LIV Golf).”
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On Wednesday, it was McIlroy’s turn to answer questions from the media and it’s no surprise that several of them centered around the presence of LIV members.
“It is what it is,” he said when asked about his feelings for them in the field. “They are here. They are playing the golf tournament. My opinion is they shouldn’t be here, but again that’s just my opinion. But we are all going to tee it up on the first tee tomorrow, and we are all going to go play 72 holes, which is a novelty for them at this point, and then we’ll go from there.”
When asked if battling with a LIV member down the stretch on Sunday for the win would add additional motivation, McIlroy delivered a dig that we’ve become accustomed to over the past several months.
“I mean, I’ll be trying to win a golf tournament regardless. They are going to be pretty tired on Sunday. It will be the fourth day.”
A few of the players who’ve been busy with their 54-hole, shotgun-start events over the last few months are Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood who McIlroy has shared countless Ryder Cup moments with.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve got much of a relationship with them at the minute,” he said. “But again, if you’re just talking about Ryder Cup, that’s not the future of the Ryder Cup team.”
The next Ryder Cup isn’t until 2023, but McIlroy was asked if he’d suit up for the International Team at this month’s President Cup if he was called upon.
“One hundred percent. It’s at Quail Hollow. Have you seen me play Quail Hollow?”
It’s not an option, but fun to think about.
The four-time major champion has won three times at the North Carolina course, including the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship, the last time it held a PGA Tour event.
McIlroy’s most recent appearance at the BMW PGA came in 2019 where he tied for ninth. He won the event in 2014.
Thought this was very interesting from Rory today, for any fans concerned the DP World Tour is becoming too subservient to the PGA Tour or being weakened by the ‘strategic alliance’ pic.twitter.com/5DGW9o3e3p
— Jamie Weir (@jamiecweir) September 7, 2022
