Rory McIlroy’s Reaction to PGA Tour/LIV Merger…

Rory McIlroy’s Reaction to PGA Tour/LIV Merger…

all right welcome back ladies and gentlemen we are uh we’re back from the dead sort of definitely gonna need this all right so we’ve been on death’s door for the last three days um but today I’m I’m feeling a little better which is good a lot better and uh the biggest thing in the world of golf happened yesterday probably the biggest thing ever the PGA Tour and live golf along with DP World Tour announced a merger a merger between the arch enemies the arch Rivals Micah Morris and good good announce the merger it’s basically what happened here we’re relay into YouTube golf now I know this isn’t YouTube golf so I don’t know how many of you are going to be interested in this but I mean if you watch professional golf at all you’re gonna be interested in this so why don’t you go into it I want to talk about my reactions and my thoughts to it but I figured I’m gonna do it in a way that’s kind of also related to one of the most interesting reactions and opinions of mine which is Rory or inocular so I’ve got a 14 minute interview here from him we’re gonna listen to the whole thing we’re gonna react to it together and I’m gonna give you my thoughts and opinions along the way because there’s a lot to unpack here and I’m a huge Rory guy he was at the Forefront of this whole thing he was kind of spearheading the anti-live campaign and this arguably has hurt him the most so it’s gonna be interesting to hear what he has to say so sit back relax hit that subscribe button let’s get into it yesterday’s news I guess how and where were you when you received it and how did it make you feel uh how and where were you when you received it it’s like everyone’s excuse me this is gonna happen a lot today everyone’s gonna remember where they were and what they were doing at this moment when this news got announced especially Lori McIlroy yeah so um I got a text message on uh Monday night I guess um from Jimmy Dunn saying hey can I give you a call in the morning so I said sure uh Jimmy Ryan about 6 30 yesterday morning we had a chat took me through the news took me through the deal the structure of the deal um what it meant for us what it meant for the DP World Tour um so yeah I I learned about it pretty much at the same time everyone else did all right so a little bit of context there in case you missed it none of the pros knew about this beforehand they all found out literally on the announcement like we did like the CNBC thing was like how like Colin work hour found out and how Brooks kept found out apparently how Greg Norman found out I think Greg Norman might have got a call in the morning like all right but like they had no hand in this this was like Jay Monahan and like the Saudi Investment fund they just did this behind the scenes so no Pros new and they all found out over Twitter that’s why I think a lot of them are fist the it was a surprise um I knew there had been discussions going on um in the background I knew that uh lines of communication had been opened up uh I obviously didn’t expect it to happen as as quickly as it did but I really think that you know from what I gathered the tour felt they were in a real position of strength coming off the back of the DP World winning their legal case in in London that’s interesting because a lot of what I was kind of thinking this actually was a narrative that foreplay talked about um so credit to them but I thought and was kind of guessing that PGA Tour did this out of position of like assumed weakness because they had all their lawsuits going on with Liv that if they were to lose them basically the Live players were going to be able to stay with Liv keep all their money and just come back and play on the PGA tour and there’d be no upside for the PGA Tour so the PGA Tour saw that and was like we have to make a deal because otherwise we’re going to be left out of any upside from this there’s gonna be nothing to gain if we just lose these four cases so I think they must have really I personally think they must have been in a real state of like uh oh we’re about to lose these court cases and let’s do something to like better our upside from it so I don’t know not just in my opinion weekend um the other side’s position and um you know they went in there and you know the way Jimmy described it you know Rory sometimes you got 280 over water and you just got to go for it and you know that’s that’s uh you know that’s what that’s what they did and um you know I think ultimately when I try to remove myself from the situation and I look at the bigger picture and I look at 10 years down the line you know I think ultimately this is going to be um it’s going to be good for the the game of professional golf I think it secures the uh it unifies it on it on it secures its its financial future so um you know there’s there’s mixed emotions in there as well uh as there’s going to be I don’t understand all the intricacies of what’s going on it’s a very um uh what’s the word you know there’s a lot of ambiguity there’s a lot of things still to be um sort of thrashed out but um at least it means that the litigation goes away which has been a massive burden for everyone um that’s involved with the tour and that’s playing the tour uh uh and we can start to work toward you know some sort of way of of unifying the game at the at the elite level I mean it’s interesting it’s interesting right like this guy was the poster boy for auntie live and for you know the future of golf in the future of golf needing to be preserved and needing to be put first and now all of a sudden you have him saying that this ultimately he thinks is going to be good for the future of golf which is a complete different direction than he was pushing before for the future call so I mean his hands are tied he’s in this situation he can’t change the situation so I’m sure part of this is like trying to see the Silver Lining and trying to like you know just look at it as like well this is the reality so we’re gonna have to move forward now I don’t think if you would have given him an objective look at this beforehand he would have been like yeah let’s do that because it’s going to be better for the game of golf in the future I think he’s saying that now because he knows it’s the reality he know he doesn’t he doesn’t have a choice so it’s interesting Adam Adam on the left Rory has over the last day with the different meetings and the conversations you’ve had with players has your opinion changed at all have you sort of started to see where this is all going and are you are you excited about this are you optimistic about this can I as you project It Forward yeah so I mean I think the one thing that I think was really misconstrued last yesterday was you know all the headlines were PGA Tour emerges with Liv and Liv has got nothing to do with this right I mean it’s the PGA Tour DP World Tour and the public investment fund are basically partnering to create a new company um you know this has gotten you know I think that’s where I was a little frustrated because all I’ve wanted to do and all I’ve wanted you know in the past year from basically this tournament is to protect the future of the PGA Tour and protect the aspirational nature of of what the PGA Tour stands for um and I hope that this does that but you know I think with the headlines being merges would live like that’s not the I mean if you look at the structure of hard structure Don this this new company sits above everything Jay is the CEO of that so technically anyone that is involved with live no I would answer to Jay that’s interesting so we haven’t gotten a lot of details from this like there hasn’t been a lot released other than just that CNBC thing and even in that the head of the pif or the whatever asset the Saudi money guy he even said he’s like yeah maybe in like two weeks we’ll have all the details ironed out like they don’t even have the details ironed out yet so it’s interesting to hear this from Rory didn’t know that Jay was going to be the CEO of this new company this new entity that’s basically going to run the money and the decisions for all these so that’s good I guess but it is a merger with Lyft the live guys are going to be able to play on the PGA tour that’s what we’re hearing so I don’t know that’s like a little like being better for sure I mean and how can you blame him this guy was the biggest anti-lib guy this guy was so I I don’t know you can’t take back a lot of stuff he said man when he won the Canadian open last year the trash of Greg Norman on the 18th green can’t take that back have control of everything and the one thing as well is you know whether you like it or not the pif we’re going to keep spending money in golf at least the PGA Tour and like controls how that money is spent you know so I’d you know if you’re thinking about some you know one of the biggest Sovereign wealth funds in the world would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy um at the end of the day money talks and you’d rather have them as a partner given that the doj was already looking into the PGA Tour frame I trust violations and all that how much of an open battle do you think this is going to be to push this through going forward now now that the two sides have kind of come together and are operating together here um that’s way above my pay grade I have no idea how the Department of Justice operates I have not been involved in any of those discussions and um it would be very silly and naive of me to comment on that all right we’ll go to Lucas right here on the aisle hi Rory I know it’s early but how does an announcement like this impact tournaments like the Canadian open for example one of the storied events on the PGA tour I mean I’ve I I feel bad for RBC and the Canadian open to think about what went on this time last year and then the bombshell that was dropped I mean RBC have been one of the biggest supporters of the PGA Tour over the last 10 years they you know you know this year they’re supporting a designated event at Hilton Head they’re sponsoring their National open um they’re pouring tens of millions of dollars into the into the PGA Tour that um you know the the players obviously benefit from so I really I feel bad because you know being such a great partner and having this stuff sort of dropped on you two years in a row is is very unfair um as to what it looks like going forward you know I’d like to say that things don’t change I’d like to think that the Canadian open keeps on thriving and just like every other event on the PGA tour and um you know I think the PGA Tour are uh hopefully going to announcer 2024 schedule here in the next two or three weeks and you know I don’t think that’ll you know I don’t expect that to change that’ll be interesting that was like one of the first things I was kind of not concerned about but just like curious about was like yeah how is it actually going to affect the day-to-day on the PGA tour how’s it actually going to affect you know what’s going on within the tour and I think very much so you know the reality is that the events are likely going to stay the same the events are likely not going to be changed the only difference is there’s likely going to be an Avenue for players from live and whatever to get on but I think it’s going to go back to the way it was like DP World Tour players theoretically could play in PGA Tour events if they were qualified they could go to a Monday qualifier they could have an exemption they could whatever get on and play I think it’s gonna be the same thing for Live players if you’re you know Brooks kepca or Phil Mickelson and you have you know either a lifetime status or whatever that’s going to be reinstated and they’re just going to be able to play but I I don’t see much changing maybe some more international events it’d be really hilarious if they had really funny a designated event in Saudi that’d be hilarious another one on the right here uh Rory Simon dingley from CBC News um we heard there was a lot of anger in the clubhouse yesterday in the meeting with the commissioner do you still have confidence in Jay Monahan as commissioner of the PGA yeah I I do I gotta stop you right there Rory that is just I mean that’s one of the big takeaways here this guy’s a chute like jaymon is a Chooch that is that’s evident man and like I just think again how like to the death we’re gonna fight live to the death we’re gonna fight Saudi money to the death like he made them out to be the absolute devil the absolute Antichrist 911 families that whole deal Jim on hand stood on a freaking like pillar and screamed it to the world that these guys are murderers these guys or whatever and now you’re just all of a sudden like happy about a partnership and it’s the best thing for the game of golf and going like at the end of the day jay Monahan if this guy if this guy stays nobody’s ever gonna have confidence in him nobody’s ever gonna have like full respect for this guy again like he was already a bit of a joke like this guy is the biggest joke so I mean uh of course Rory is going to say this he’s like partnered he’s part of the PGA Tour Advisory Board whatever but it’s also his boss sort of so he’s not going to talk bad about him but the guy’s a joke that’s an absolute joke um and look I I’ve dealt with Jay a lot closer than a lot of those guys have and and um from where we were a couple of weeks ago to where we are today I think the future of the PGA Tour looks brighter as a as a whole as an entity um you know what that looks like for individual players in terms of keeping a Turk hard and you know bringing players back into the fold and then that you know sacrifices other people that’s that’s where the anger comes from right and I and I am I understand that and like I there there still has to be consequences to actions you know the people that left the PGA Tour are rapidly harmed this tour started litigation against it like we can’t just welcome them back in like that’s not going to happen and I think that was the one thing that Jay was trying to get across yesterday was like guys we’re not just going to bring these guys back in and pretend like nothing’s happened like that is not going to happen yeah but I mean I kind of think it will like I kind of think they’re not gonna have a choice these guys I mean I’ve seen all the conversations like Hideki being offered you know a tiger level offer because he’s the biggest player in Asia and Asia is the biggest market for golf by population Hideki turned down 750 million and now all of a sudden Phil Mickelson who took 200 is going to be able to just come back and play and there’s gonna be up all that money like I think there is talk that there’s going to be some sort of reparation to that they’re gonna have to pay some sort of fee or penalty but like there’s no way they’re gonna make them give them a hundred million dollars or whatever like it’s going to be something relatively nominal compared to the amount they took so it’s gonna still feel like they’re doing nothing for it so I don’t know that’ll be interesting but it’s funny to hear him say that um I do have confidence in them I think you you ask the people around him that deal with him in a business sense whether it’s the directors of the board of the PGA Tour or the title sponsors that he deals with I mean he you know he seems to be a very impressive individual when it comes to and when it comes to business second question uh I know you and many other golfers were offered substantial amounts of money to join live I was never offered anymore oh my apologies uh should the golfers who maybe stayed loyal and turn down live should they be made whole financially I mean the simple answer is yes the complex answer as how does that happen right and that’s all that’s all gray area and up up in the air at the minute but yeah there’s you know it’s hard to it’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and you know feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens again removing myself from the situation I see how this is better for the game of golf there’s no denying that but for me as an individual yeah I there’s just gonna have to be conversations that are hot listen I fully get that and I think a lot of the players are rightfully going to be super pissed because like if they turn down let’s say 100 million dollars like I get it they’re already rich like a lot of players are getting offered that are already millionaires but like there’s a difference between having 10 million dollars and having 100 million dollars or having 750 million dollars like Hideki like that is your life like you could just go buy a yacht and buy a private plane and like you’re just a completely different level of Rich when you’re getting close to that like billion dollar level and that’s literally what some of these guys were talking about so like the fact that now they’re just gonna have to like they made their moral decision and they’re just gonna have to live with the fact that everyone who didn’t make that moral decision who took the money is now just gonna be back in the same pool as they are and they’re just like well we just didn’t we just didn’t get that money we it didn’t get us anywhere and we just didn’t get the money and now that like that’s crazy Jason and then John on the left Rory you mentioned that this has really nothing to do with live golf but do you foresee you and other PJ tour players having to play some sort of Team events moving forward into the fall or a series of them so I think Yasser is very so the PGA Tour already doing their own sort of team thing right we’re going to do tgl which is you know it’s not on a golf course and it’s but it’s a team type of event and it’s an entertainment product and you know that stuff was already starting to happen but it was very delineate right so you had like proper competitive golf like we’re playing this week and you have more entertainment type of golf that you get more into the team atmosphere and and you you bring Tech into it and it’s a it’s a more made for TV type of deal um I would say an element of Team golf might still stay it certainly uh in my opinion and my hope is it won’t it won’t be under the live umbrella it’s something that the PGA Tour will control the PGA Tour will operate and it will hopefully look very different to what live has been second question how much of a distraction is this as you try to go and win this tournament three times in a row yesterday was tough I think the shock of it the surprise of it um I wasn’t looking forward to this to be honest with you um but you know once we all get done here and you write your stories and say what you’ve say what I say or quote me or whatever it is um I’m going to go to the range and do some practice and try to get ready for a golf tournament John hey Rory John chitley Hill from the Canadian press a lot of fans are upset at this news the the war of words between the PGA Tour and live got very heated and fans got very involved what you say to fans who are disappointed in this deal but it’s not live I think that’s the thing I still hit live like I hit live like I I hope it goes away and I would fully expect that it does um and I think that’s where the distinction here is this is the PJ tour of the DP World Tour and the pif very different from Liv all I’ve tried to do is protect what the PGA Tour is and what the PGA Tour stands for and I think it will continue to to do that um so look going forward I hope that there’s you know there may be a team element I think we’re going to see the same redaction the same awkward walking back on words that’s happening right here from how much he thought Liv was just gonna die and be nothing like they’re not partnered with the PGA Tour I know he’s saying it’s not live but the Saudi money is live and they’re now partners and so him now saying that he want like thinks Liv is just gonna again go away and be nothing and whatever their partner we saw do not live live is the Saudi prod product like that’s the Saudi money product that’s the whole reason this whole thing is happening if live what if Liv wasn’t started none of this would be happening the Saudi money would not be at least not in this way be taking over the PGA tour it’s it’s hilarious to me it’s hilarious to me that he’s still talking about it like this like I get it but bro like you gotta wake up and smell the roses like this this live is going to be a part of this thing and I don’t think this audience are getting rid of it because why would they it’s their product so I think it’s gonna be pretty funny if we see Rory yeah playing in like a full races uniform a couple times a year that’ll be fun play in some sort of Team golf but I don’t think it’ll look anything like Liv has looked and I think that’s a good thing I said at the Jay yesterday you’ve galvanized everyone against something and that thing that you galvanized everyone against you’ve now partnered with so yeah of course I understand it it is hypocritical and science hypocritical um the one thing I would say is again whether you like it or not the pif and the Saudis want to spend money in the game of golf it is they they want to do this and they weren’t going to stop so how can you know the thing for me and this is one thing that I’ve always thought about how can we get that money into the game but use it the right way and I think that’s what this ultimately will do hopefully I mean that’s that’s my hope all right well there you have it that’s his hope that’s his hope uh listen my first reaction to this were obviously gobsmacked like most of you guys it’s very surprising but like he said in this interview Money Talks right and like these guys just have an unlimited bankroll they have an unlimited amount of money compared to what the PGA Tour had and compared to what really anyone who ever had showed interest in the PGA Tour had that was a PGA Tour and a place of struggle we don’t know like this to me maybe is telling of that maybe they were going outside of their comfort zone with these you know designated events and with the payouts and they were putting out a bit more money than they could actually afford to do in order to try to compete with Liv so this was a bit of a Saving Grace like it to me it’s like the only reason like live wasn’t going to overtake the PGA tour in popularity probably ever maybe globally but in America anyways where the PGA tour’s main audience is like you nobody was tuning in to live over you know a actual good PGA Tour event and so I don’t think they saw that as the threat I think it was just you know it must have just been from a position of weakness like I don’t care what Rory says I don’t think the PGA Tour would have done this if it wasn’t them being in some sort of compromise position and that’s just my opinion but anyways hope you guys enjoyed hit that subscribe button comment your thoughts down below see the next one [Music]

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