Four-time major championship winner Rory McIlroy said Tuesday he plans to end his career on the PGA Tour, denying a published report from a London newspaper that he was paid $850 million and an equity stake in the LIV Golf League had been offered.
McIlroy said neither he nor his agents had ever discussed a possible deal to lure him to the LIV Golf League, which is funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
“I honestly don’t know how these things start,” McIlroy told Golf Channel while on the practice range at Harbor Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, site of this week’s RBC Heritage. “I have never been offered a number from LIV and I have never thought about going to LIV. Again, I think I’ve made it clear over the last two years that I don’t think it’s for me.”
“That doesn’t mean I judge people who went there and played there. I think one of the things I've realized over the last two years is that people can make their own decisions about what they think is best for them.” And who are we to judge them for that ? But for me personally, my future is here on the PGA Tour, and it’s never been different.”
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McIlroy, a 24-time winner on tour, will also play next week with Irishman Shane Lowry in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a team event.
“It’s never been a conversation for us,” McIlroy said. “It is unfortunate that we have to deal with this and that is the state our game is in. I’m obviously here going to the PGA Tour event next week and I’m going to play the rest of my career on the PGA Tour.”
Sean O'Flaherty, McIlroy's agent, told the Irish Independent in an email that there was “zero truth” to a report by City AM, a London financial newspaper, that the world's second-ranked golfer was worth $850 million -Offer is being considered from the LIV Golf League, which would include an equity stake of approximately 2%.
O'Flaherty called the report “fake news.”
“I think in the last two years there have been so many rumors about guys,” McIlroy said. “I think the one thing that's also become clear to me is that the guys need to be open-minded, and I'm sure there are players who still play on the PGA Tour who have spoken to the guys at LIV and had offers and whatever.”
Although the PGA Tour and the PIF signed a framework agreement to form an alliance on June 6, the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. The framework agreement, which expired on December 31, was extended as negotiations continued.
LIV Golf lured then-world No. 3 Jon Rahm to its ranks in December in a deal reportedly worth more than $350 million.
On March 18, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan met in the Bahamas with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and player directors from the Tour's Policy Board, including Tiger Woods.
McIlroy, who finished 22nd at the Masters last week, has been one of the most vocal critics of LIV Golf and its team concept.
“I still hate LIV,” he told reporters at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open in Toronto last June. “I hate LIV. I hope it goes away.”
After the PGA Tour's upcoming alliance with the PIF was announced, McIlroy said he felt like a “sacrificial lamb.”
In recent months, McIlroy has softened his position on allowing players who left for LIV Golf to return to the PGA Tour and whether they should be able to compete in the Ryder Cup.
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