Rory McIlroy , a Manchester United fan and a soccer enthusiast , was a perfect guest for “Stick to Football”, a show hosted by The Overlap.
McIlroy, as a guest in the most recent episode of the show, began the conversation by sharing a funny story about Keane refusing to sign his autograph in a hotel at the age of 12 before moving on to topics such as LIV Golf or Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund’s investment in sports.
McIlroy’s answer to a question regarding the PIF governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, was one of the most shocking. McIlroy claimed he asked Al-Rumayyan what he wanted from golf at the end 2022. McIlroy says that conversation was the spark which ignited and led to the framework agreement with the PGA Tour.
McIlroy said: “We had a good conversation, and we discussed how he loved the game, and wanted to do certain things. He thinks that the team element of golf can take off, and he’s trying to build franchise values in some of these clubs, and I could understand some of his reasoning.” When I returned to America in 2023, I was on board of the PGA Tour. I told the guys that someone had to talk to him.
He continued: “I knew there were conversations going on, but I didn’t realize it would happen that quickly.” On June 6, an agreement framework was announced. Many players were angry because they had been completely blindsided.
McIlroy, a staunch defender for the PGA Tour admitted that he was wrong in the past two years. He said that he viewed professional golf’s struggle with “altruistic” approach and that if he regretted anything, it would be being so judgemental of players that left the LIV.
McIlroy said that LIV had “exposed flaws” in the system by exploiting players as independent contractors, and making it impossible to compete financially for the Tour.
McIlroy said, “It’s hard to believe that (the Tour) is asking sponsors to give millions of dollars in sponsorship for these events. You can’t guarantee to those sponsors who will show up. “I cannot believe that (the PGA Tour) has done so well over such a long period of time. It’s exposed some flaws that golf should look into.
“If we are going to ask for such a large sum of money from these people, we have to be able guarantee what they will get. I think this was part of our work over the past two years, to see how we can bring it back together and learn from the mistakes that were made and the issues that LIV exposed.”
McIlroy has also acknowledged that investing Saudi Arabia’s money in golf would be a positive thing. However, he wants to do it the right way.
Instead of giving someone 100 million dollars, why not put $50 million in a grassroots program at the R&A and USGA to help? Spending the money on something else to grow the game rather than just buying talent, I believe would be the best way to spend it.
The Northern Irishman admitted that things had cooled off between players, but he was still annoyed by those who complained about the PGA Tour or DP World Tour when they moved to LIV. Then he ripped into his Ryder Cup teammates, Jon Rahm and the Saudi-backed league , after they had made negative comments for years about LIV . McIlroy said the Tour legitimized LIV’s shocking framework agreement, and that the proposed deal would make it easier for Rahm and others to move.
McIlroy said, “I think Jon is smart, and I think that he can see things coming together eventually,” claiming he has never received an LIV offer. It’s a clever business move. It’s opportunistic. He’s lucky. He is exempt from all majors. You know that no one would not want him to be on our Ryder Cup Team because he’s so good. He was in an ideal position, where he didn’t have to take on a lot of risk to go.”
McIlroy talked about his TGL, Ryder Cup glory, and the direction he thinks the game will take in the future. You can watch the episode by clicking here.
