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While Rory McIlroy sees a world where Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and PGA Tour Enterprises come together via investment by the end of the calendar year, he does not expect the PGA Tour itself and LIV Golf to join forces — at least not in the foreseeable future.
“I mean, I’d say we’ll know by the end of the year whether that’s a possibility or not,” McIlroy told The Scotsman after playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week. “But I think all tours are going to keep trucking along and doing their own thing for the foreseeable future, and I think the best thing we can maybe hope for is a bit of crossover between them. And then maybe while that is happening over that period of time — whether it be one year, two years, three years — just trying to figure out the rest.
“I think the hard thing is there are legal precedents that have been set in America and [Europe] and that makes it very different. That’s the big thing. No one likes lawyers — I certainly don’t — and, yeah, that’s a big part of the issue. I think there is a willingness there from all parties to try and get it to happen, but you’ve got tons of lawyers in the middle of it.”
McIlroy’s comments come after a week that saw all three major professional circuits — PGA Tour, LIV Golf, DP World Tour — represented in some way at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Playing with his father in the DP World Tour’s pro-am, McIlroy competed in rounds alongside Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner and PGA Tour Enterprises CEO, and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
The four-time major champion has played a curious role in attempting to unite the golf world. Resigning from the PGA Tour policy board last fall only to attempt to regain his post less than a year later, McIlroy has instead made do with only being a member of the PGA Tour Enterprises transaction subcommittee, which is tasked with PIF negotiations.
“Yeah, it was good to spend some time with all of them and sort of talk a little bit about the situation, the goings on in the game,” McIlroy said. “But, in fairness, it probably wasn’t as much talk about it as you would have thought.”
While crossover events are not on the calendar for 2025 — as both leagues have released their respective playing schedules — there is one informally pegged for the end of the year. McIlroy will join forces with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in an exhibition match against two of LIV Golf’s brightest stars in Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
The event may not be exactly what golf fans desire, but perhaps it will be the start of the two leagues coming together.
