Rory McIlroy remains skeptical about a hypothetical merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf given the latter’s financial model.
Appearing at CNBC’s CEO Council Forum, the five-time major champion posited golf would be in a better position with some form of “unification,” per ESPN.com. Still, he believes LIV’s extravagant spending complicates any agreement with the PGA Tour.
“As someone who supports the traditional structure of men’s professional golf, we have to realize we were trying to deal with people that were acting, in some ways, irrationally, just in terms of the capital they were allocating and the money they were spending,” McIlroy said.
“It’s been four or five years and there hasn’t been a return yet, but they’re going to have to keep spending that money to even just maintain what they have right now.
“A lot of these guys’ contracts are up. They’re going to ask for the same number or an even bigger number. LIV have spent five or six billion U.S. dollars, and they’re going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are.”
When LIV first launched in 2022, many wondered whether it posted a serious threat to the PGA Tour’s future. The breakaway series poached a number of big stars with contracts far outpacing what they had been earning.
With four seasons in the books, the experiment has been a massive disappointment.
LIV’s television ratings lagged well behind those of the PGA Tour in 2025. LIV Golf Ltd claimed it lost $590.1 million in 2024, according to The Athletic’s Chris Weatherspoon, and its overall losses going back to 2022 total $1.4 billion. LIV even had to abandon one of its signature features as it’s adopting a 72-hole format, up from 54, in 2026.
As McIlroy pointed out, LIV’s backers basically face one of two choices. They can either call it quits altogether and wave the white flag, or they can keep funneling millions into the venture in the hope it becomes more viable.
The latter is clearly the approach LIV is following, and that pretty much puts any merger with the PGA Tour on the back burner.
