Rory McIlroy has openly questioned how long LIV Golf can continue after spending billions, insisting the breakaway league has failed to resonate with fans – while revealing he would welcome Bryson DeChambeau back to the PGA Tour.
Rory McIlroy has never been shy with his views on LIV Golf, but his latest comments feel different. Where previous remarks often carried notes of uncertainty, fear, and a need to protect the PGA Tour, McIlroy now seems more relaxed – and more openly sceptical about whether LIV has a long-term future at all.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, McIlroy questioned how long LIV can realistically continue after burning through billions, while also admitting he would now be open to welcoming players such as Bryson DeChambeau back to the PGA Tour.
‘It just hasn’t resonated’
McIlroy didn’t sugar-coat his feelings on LIV’s product. While he acknowledged there are “some good elements”, he insisted it simply hasn’t landed with fans in the way it promised.
“I think the thing is with LIV, it hasn’t really resonated with people,” he said. “Maybe it’s just that I’m too much of a traditionalist to get it, but it just doesn’t seem to have anything. 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 World Ranking points, so it’s like you’re just doing what everyone else is doing. So what’s different – apart from the money?”
A fracture that’s elevated the majors – but hurt the game
McIlroy admitted the split has had one unintended benefit: it’s made the majors and the Ryder Cup feel bigger than ever.
“The thing that it’s done is it’s elevated the majors and it’s elevated the Ryder Cup because it’s the only four or five times a year you see all the best players playing together.”
However, McIlroy was clear that the upside doesn’t outweigh the damage.
“For golf to be relevant, I think we need the best players together more often than that.”
Billions spent… for what return?
Perhaps the most eye-catching part of McIlroy’s comments was his blunt assessment of LIV’s finances.
“They’ve spent billions on LIV,” he said. “And if it isn’t making a return for them, I don’t know how much longer they can keep it going.”
It’s not the first time McIlroy has suggested that patience inside the Saudi Public Investment Fund – which bankrolls LIV – may not be limitless. Back in November 2025, he warned that the league’s spending commitments were only set to grow.
“They’re going to have to keep spending that money to even just maintain what they have right now,” he said. “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 [dollars] and they’re going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are.”
Door opens for LIV players – including Bryson DeChambeau
The PGA Tour vs LIV Golf war has created a clear ‘us and them’ culture, but McIlroy revealed not only that he would welcome LIV players back to the PGA Tour, but that he believes defectors have already suffered enough for their decision to leave.
“I think they’ve already paid their consequence,” he said. “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.”
That includes LIV’s biggest star, Bryson DeChambeau, a man who recently cast doubts on his own future on LIV.
“If it made the overall tour stronger to have Bryson DeChambeau back and whoever else, I would be okay with it,” said McIlroy. “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.”
Why reunification still feels distant
For that very reason, McIlroy no longer envisages a partnership between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
“I’ve tried. I was on the board of the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour is a members’ organization, so all of the players have the final vote on anything that happens. If the executives of the tour decide something that the membership feel is detrimental to them, they’re never going to pass it.
“I think when the PGA Tour was set up as a members’ organization it was a good thing, but I’m sure in 1968 when they set it up, they never envisioned this thing happening.
“I think not having dialogue with the Saudis for a while, they felt disrespected, so then they dug in and stood their ground, and that’s sort of where we are. I think that’s eased off a little bit now, but it’s still hard to see any sort of resolution.”
If McIlroy is right – and LIV continues to struggle for relevance despite unprecedented spending – the current standoff may not be sustainable forever. Brooks Koepka becoming the first big-name player to walk away from LIV Golf has only added fuel to that belief, and McIlroy appears to think he won’t be the last.
His comments no longer carry the edge of a player fighting for territory. Instead, they sound like those of someone stepping back and assessing the situation for what it is: a hugely expensive experiment that has fractured the game, elevated a handful of events, but failed to connect with a wider audience.
Whether LIV eventually fades, evolves, or forces a reshaping of the professional landscape altogether remains unclear. What is clear is that Rory McIlroy no longer sounds like a man bracing for LIV’s future — but one questioning whether it has one at all.
