Rory McIlroy noted that members of LIV Golf were “saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour” at this year’s Masters, just days before the league’s financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, withdrew its financial support for the league. McIlroy’s comments come after DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings shared a similar revelation with The Scotsman.
“I agree with everything that Guy said. They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race,” McIlroy shared. “They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour. …
“I think people that don’t agree are probably very shortsighted. Look, there was some of the money that they used the right way, created the International Series on the Asian Tour, great for a couple years. But where did that leave the Asian Tour? They left them high and dry. Asian Tour came back into the fold, did a partnership with the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Again, this was always going to be the case.
“It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realized they weren’t going to get any return on investment, or they were going to leave the golf space and go invest in something else and invest in something that would actually make them money. For long-term sustainability for men’s professional golf, we are in a much better spot.”
Kinnings divulged plenty in his wide-ranging interview. He appears keen on the PGA Tour moving its schedule from February through August, which would give the DP World Tour a window to take center stage in the golf ecosystem. The DP World Tour headman also acknowledged the balance of appeasing membership while welcoming players from LIV Golf back into the fold, an entity which aimed to take down his league.
“It’s got to be as fair as it can be and as merit-based as it can be, but there is probably no perfect solution,” Kinnings said. “Regardless of who the players are, they’ve got to prove themselves in the system. I understand what some players are saying, because things have been said in the past. But if players are ready to say, ‘I’m now ready to be supportive, do good things for the Tour and try and help,’ then we have to look at that. We’ve got to protect that special culture that we have on the Tour. And you see it across the whole Tour. That’s why I’m so proud of what we have — it’s like nowhere else in the world.
“But we also have to protect the Tour against an entity who spent, so we are told, over $7 billion, with one of their aims being to ‘Destroy the DP World Tour.’ I have heard that from so many different people they talked to, who I have known for over 30 years within the game and who I trust implicitly. Clearly, when you are faced with statements like that, and then people then ask why we are doing what we are doing with our membership and invite policy for 2027, then I think the answer becomes pretty obvious.”
Notable former LIV Golf members returning to the DP World Tour in 2027 include Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, both in the field at this week’s Abu Dhabi Championship. Louis Oosthuizen, Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk plan to call the European circuit home in 2027 as well.
Sergio Garcia released a head-scratching statement to announce that he planned to play on the DP World Tour next season, as will European Ryder Cup counterpart Ian Poulter, who will participate in some capacity. The influx of former LIV Golf players into the DP World Tour will be a balancing act for Kinning, as he noted that special exemptions for players such as Charles Howell III will be for tournaments of lesser stature. Altogether, it is a good problem to have, especially when stacked against what they faced at the start of the year.
“They were going around at Augusta this year telling people that that’s what they wanted to do,” McIlroy said. “And then, it’s ironic that, a week later, now they are talking about completing and not competing and all that. That’s different from what they were saying at the start of the year. I think everything that’s transpired, a lot of the guys wanted to come back and play the DP World Tour. I think it puts this tour in a really strong position.
“I know they are working through a new agreement with the PGA Tour post-’27 after the first Strategic Alliance is sort of over or is able to be renegotiated, and I know that things are progressing there and hopefully that will all get done here over, maybe over the next few weeks. I think this is as strong as this tour has been in a long, long time.”
