A lot has been said on both sides since it was rumored and then confirmed that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would be pulling its financial backing for the breakaway league at the end of the current season, ending a five-year association that has cost almost $6 billion.
It’s led to a lot of confusion about what’s next. LIV has added new people to its board in a bid to bring in new investors, while the players are sending mixed signals. One could argue that Jon Rahm’s decision to end his stalemate with the DP World Tour means he is planning a way back to the traditional circuits, while Bryson DeChambeau has had talks with the PGA Tour and even considered a more unconventional method to preparing for majors.
Then there’s Anirban Lahiri, DeChambeau’s Crushers teammate, who says he knows of “at least a dozen” players who would rather retire than go back to the PGA Tour.
But a long term critic of LIV Golf, McIlroy has largely stayed out of it since the news broke last week. Until now.
Speaking at Quail Hollow, where he’s fine-tuning his game for next week’s PGA Championship, McIlroy said “it’s a question if they do want to come back”.
He continued: “It all depends on what happens to LIV. If it is a scenario where they have the option to come back and play on the traditional tours, [PGA Tour CEO] Brian Rolapp has said anything that makes this tour stronger, and anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, everyone should be open to that.
That’s just good business practice.
“But again, I think there’s going to be a lot of bridges to cross to get there, just because the guys over there are under contract and if they are able to keep it going and get a schedule together next year, it seems like those guys are still going to play the majority of their golf on LIV, in whatever form it takes.
“I’m not going to judge anyone for not wanting to play on the PGA Tour. Does that mean that they go play DP World Tour? Maybe, if that’s a pathway. That would make the DP World Tour stronger, and I would be delighted with that because that’s my home tour at the end of the day.”
Of course, he couldn’t resist a sly dig at his LIV Golf rivals about a potential PGA Tour return.
“If you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be,” he said. “And if you don’t want to play here, I think that says something about you.”
It wasn’t just the players in the firing line, either.
“It doesn’t mean that LIV is going to go away,” he added. “They’re going to go and try and find alternative investment, whatever that may look like. But when one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you’re too expensive for them, that says something.”
“If you don’t want to play on the PGA Tour, I think that says something about you.”
Rory comments on the quality of the Tour and where LIV golfers will want to play ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/uMkRF3hGW2
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 8, 2026