Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau are not exactly chummy. Not only do they ply their trades on different sides of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf divide, but they also spent much of 2026 sparring with each other through the media. It all began when DeChambeau told the press that McIlory didn’t speak to him during his final round at the Masters in April, when the duo were paired together. McIlroy was clearly miffed about DeChambeau inserting himself into his Masters moment, later saying he wasn’t trying “to be his [DeChambeau’s] best mate out there” and that DeChambeau only mentions him when he wants attention. But a new year calls for a new start, and McIlroy may be ready to bury the hatchet in 2026 … at least judging by his comments on The Overlap podcast on Friday.
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“I think they’ve [LIV players] already paid their consequence. They’ve made the money but they’ve paid their consequence in terms of the reputation and some of the things they’ve lost by going over there,” McIlroy said. “If it made the overall tour stronger to have Bryson DeChambeau back and whoever else, I would be okay with it. But it’s not just me, and I recognize that not everyone is in my position. It would be up to the collective group of PGA Tour members to make that decision.”
McIlroy had plenty more to say about LIV Golf in the segment, which you can watch below.
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“Maybe it’s just that I’m too much of a traditionalist to get it, but it just doesn’t seem to have anything,” McIlroy continued. “They were coming into the game saying, ‘We’re going to be different, we’re going to be this, we’re going to be that,’ and it’s not … Even the fact they’ve now switched from 54 holes to 72 holes to get OWGR points, so it’s like you’re just doing what everyone else is doing. So what’s different, apart from the money?”
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Those are strong words, but they’re mostly in keeping with McIlroy’s stance one LIV Golf since its inception. His comments on DeChambeau, however, represent something of a U-Turn for the five-time major champ. Partly because of his previous disagreements with DeChambeau, and partly because of his previously stated belief that LIV Golf pros should not be allowed to waltz back into a PGA Tour locker room without some sort of recompense.
“There still has to be consequences to actions,” McIlroy told reporters shortly after the PGA Tour and PIF announced their now largely defunct “framework agreement” back in 2023.
“The people who left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this tour, started litigation against it. We can’t just welcome them back in. That’s not going to happen. I think that was the one thing that Jay was trying to get across yesterday is like, guys, we’re not just going to bring these guys back in and pretend like nothing has happened. That is not going to happen.”
So why the about-face? McIlroy has been known to waffle a bit, but this seems like a significant sea change.
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The cynical answer is that he smells blood in the water and is trying to further unsettle the PGA Tour’s rival league. Brooks Koepka just fled LIV Golf with one year left on his deal in a shocking move, while DeChambeau’s contract expires at the end of 2026. McIlory knows that if the PGA Tour rolls out the red carpet for DeChambeau and woos back one of golf’s biggest stars, that it may be the final tee in LIV’s coffin. The charitable answer is that he’s simply had a change of heart. Let bygones be bygones. LIV and let LIV.
Time will tell how much of this McIlroy truly means, but for now it’s another irresistible morsel of PGA Tour-LIV Golf drama. Say what you want, but deep down, we’ll all miss it when its gone.
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