Masters champion Rory McIlroy paid LIV Golf a compliment ahead of the Australian Open.
The 36-year-old is the headline act at Royal Melbourne this week and is playing the first two rounds alongside home favourites Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee.
McIlroy is teeing it up in Australia for the first time since he won Down Under in 2013.
He told reporters on Wednesday ahead of the $2m event that the country has been “starved” of top-level golf for quite some time.
And he explained that LIV Golf’s popular event in Adelaide demonstrates there is a market for the sport.
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“It hasn’t been a secret that I’ve wanted to come back,” McIlroy said, adding that the change in format to an individual men’s and women’s competition has probably helped.
“It just feels like this country is starved of top-level golf.
“Obviously, you’ve had Presidents Cups come down here and you’ve had a lot of good players still come through, but maybe just not on a consistent basis.
“And I think a market like this, with amazing fans and the history that it does have, probably deserves more of a consistency of big players and big tournaments.
“Australia has been a very big part of my golfing life and my golfing journey, going all the way back to playing the Australian Open as an amateur back in 2005 and 2006.
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“I just think the quality of the golf down here, the quality of the players that have come from here.
“You look at an event like LIV in Adelaide and the people that come out to that event and how excited they are that some of the top players in the world are down here playing, it just feels like this country is starved of top-level golf.
“A market like this with amazing fans and the history that it does have probably deserves more of a consistency of big players and big tournaments.
“This tournament in particular because of the history, because of the tradition, deserves to be a standalone tournament, a week on its own, and hopefully one day they could put together a schedule where the biggest and best tournaments in the world and the oldest and the ones with the most heritage can be elevated.”
Crossroads
McIlroy is attempting to win the Australian Open for the second time in his career.
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He pipped Adam Scott to the Stonehaven Cup in 2013 when the tournament was held at Sydney Golf Club.
McIlroy described the win as one of the most meaningful in his career, given a year later he won two out of the four men’s majors.
“I think about that tournament a lot and about what it meant,” said. “I felt at that point in my career, I was at a bit of a crossroads.
“In 2013 I’d really struggled and I really do think that that win at the end of the year was a catalyst for what happened in 2014, which I’d say, up there with 2025, are the best two years of my career.”
“Probably not the best course in Melbourne”
McIlroy drew huge crowds during his first practice round on Monday.
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He said he didn’t anticipate as many blind tee shots and that the course is by no means straightforward.
“I don’t want the membership to take this badly but it’s probably not the best course in Melbourne,” he said.
“I didn’t anticipate how many blind tee shots there was going to be, and it takes a little bit to figure out. It’s certainly not straightforward.
“I think as well, it probably plays better in the southerly wind rather than a northerly wind.
“It’s probably not a fair reflection on the golf course playing it in this wind.
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“It would be good to play it in a few other directions, but it’s obviously an amazing golf course and I can’t wait to get out there and compete on it this week.”
New career goals
McIlroy has enjoyed an incredible 2025 in which he won at famed Pebble Beach for the first time, clinched the coveted Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass for the third time, slipped on the green jacket to join the grand slam club, enjoyed Irish Open success and helped Europe to victory at the Ryder Cup.
If his career were to end tomorrow, there is absolutely no doubt he would be satisfied with his standing in the game.
Going forward, McIlroy wants to win at some of the most important venues in golf. “This week is one of them,” he said.
“You think about the tournaments and the people that have won at Royal Melbourne and how highly regarded it is within the golf world.
“I was lucky enough to win at Pebble Beach this year for the first time, obviously at Augusta. I’d love to win at St. Andrews one day. I’d love to win a US Open at Pebble Beach.
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“There’s a few venues in our game that maybe just mean a bit more than some of the others and that’s something that I would love to do one day.”
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