British golf superstar Rory McIlroy has laughed off a Saudi-backed idea that he and Tiger Woods could own LIV Golf teams, saying that he would retire if playing for LIV was the only option.
The concept came from an April document titled, “The Best of Both Worlds,” provided to Congress ahead of a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday on the PGA Tour’s agreement to partner with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
“LIV is proposing that Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods would own teams and play in at least 10 LIV events. This and the participation of other leading players is subject to further discussions,” one item in the proposal said.
That was brought to McIlroy’s attention after his opening round of the Scottish Open on Thursday, and he looked bemused.
“If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on earth, I would retire. That’s how I feel about it,” McIlroy said. “I’d play the majors. I’d be pretty comfortable.”
That was part of several pie-in-the-sky proposals in the eight-page presentation geared towards finding a compromise between the golf circuits.
Rory McIlroy. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
It was produced by Amanda Staveley of British-based PCP Capital Partners. She helped broker the Public Investment Fund acquiring Newcastle United in the English Premier League and is advising the Saudis in golf.
McIlroy was the first top player to declare loyalty to the PGA Tour in early 2020. A month ago, after the surprise announcement about the deal, McIlroy said, “I still hate LIV. Like, I hate LIV. Like, I hope it goes away.”
McIlroy said he watched only a little of the Senate hearing because there wasn’t much information he didn’t already know.
“I’ve almost been too close the last year and a bit. So nice to be able to try to distance myself a bit,” he said.
Xander Schauffele said on Wednesday that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had lost some of his trust, while Jordan Spieth said Monahan had “quite a bit” of trust issues to navigate when he returns to work next week.
McIlroy said trust issues with Monahan were not as serious for him.
“Because I sort of knew what was going on, so I wasn’t quite as in the dark as some of the other guys,” McIlroy said.
“But yeah, people felt blindsided by it, and I can obviously understand why Jordan and Xander and a lot of other guys would feel that way.”
© AAP
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