{"id":305409,"date":"2023-06-07T20:32:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T20:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=305409"},"modified":"2023-06-07T23:00:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T23:00:16","slug":"i-still-hate-liv-mcilory-feels-like-sacrificial-lamb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=305409","title":{"rendered":"'I still hate LIV': McIlory feels like 'sacrificial lamb'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy<\/a>, the strongest voice against Saudi-funded LIV Golf<\/a> that caused so much disruption in golf, said he now feels like a \u201csacrificial lamb" with the stunning reversal of the PGA Tour<\/a> becoming partners with Saudi Arabia's enormous wealth fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was McIlroy who helped lead a players-only meeting last August that reshaped the PGA Tour to fend off the challenge of LIV Golf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He has been the loudest critic, a member of the tour's policy board. And he was among the last to hear the news shortly before it broke.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> What the LIV merger bombshell means for 'cheated' players\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie star conquers demons with epic century<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Really unhappy' players call for 'hypocrite' PGA boss to quit<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt's hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb, and feeling like I've put myself out there and this is what happens,\u201d McIlroy said at the RBC Canadian Open, where he is the two-time defending champion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, removing myself from the situation, I see how this is better for the game of golf. There's no denying that,\u201d he said, \u201cBut for me as an individual, yeah, there's just going to have to be conversations that are had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

McIlroy was in the player meeting where PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan faced heavy criticism from members who wondered why the tour is taking money from the Public Investment Fund and why they weren't made aware.<\/p>\n

But the four-time major champion also felt resigned that Saudi Arabia was going to continue investing in golf, and that making an enemy a minority investor would help in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see what\u2019s happened in other sports. I see what\u2019s happened in other businesses,\u201d he said. \u201cIt's very hard to keep up with people that have more money than anyone else. And again, if they want to put that money into the game of golf, then why don\u2019t we partner with them and make sure that it\u2019s done in the right way. And that\u2019s sort of where my head\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n

McIlroy pushed back against the idea the PGA Tour is merging with LIV Golf. Still to be determined is the very future of LIV Golf, the rival league that Greg Norman runs that paid signing bonuses of $150 million or more to lure players, and then offered $38 million purses to 48-man fields with no cut over 54 holes.<\/p>\n

The agreement \u2014 still not finalised \u2014 is for the PGA Tour, the European tour and the Public Investment Fund to merge commercial businesses. One of PIF's businesses is LIV Golf, which essentially will be under the control of the new company that still doesn't have a name.<\/p>\n

\"Jay<\/p>\n

\u201cI still hate LIV \u2014 like, I hate LIV,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cI hope it goes away. And I would fully expect that it does. And I think that\u2019s where the distinction here is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monahan is the CEO of the new company. Yasir al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, will be the chairman. Also part of that board will be Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy, the two PGA Tour board members who brought Monahan and al-Rumayyan together.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo technically anyone that is involved with LIV now would answer to Jay,\u201d McIlroy said.<\/p>\n

Monahan went on the Golf Channel ahead of the Canadian Open and referred to the agreement as \u201ca great day, something that will bear itself out\u201d over time.<\/p>\n

But he conceded the \u201csuddenness is a shock to the membership", which he said was a setback that could only be healed by talking to the players and explaining the new direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don't expect everybody to understand it right off the bat,\u201d Monahan said.<\/p>\n

McIlroy said he felt the tour's future was brighter as a whole. The key point going forward is how the tour handles the return of players who defected to LIV Golf \u2014 11 of them, including Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, sued the tour over antitrust violations.<\/p>\n

\"Phil<\/p>\n

Those lawsuits are being dismissed as part of the agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat's where the anger comes from. And I understand that,\u201d McIlroy said. "There still has to be consequences to actions. The people that left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this tour, started litigation against it. We can\u2019t just welcome them back in. That's not going to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that was the one thing that Jay was trying to get across yesterday is, \u2018Guys, we\u2019re not just going to bring these guys back in and pretend like nothing\u2019s happened'.\u201d<\/p>\n

The division has cost McIlroy longtime friendships, such as Sergio Garcia. He said all he wanted was to protect the future of the PGA Tour, and he hopes this agreement takes care of that.<\/p>\n

McIlroy said LIV Golf never made him an offer because he was clear from the start he wasn't going anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you like it or not, the PIF were going to keep spending the money in golf. At least the PGA Tour now controls how that money is spent,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re thinking about one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world, would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks and you would rather have them as a partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rory McIlroy, the strongest voice against Saudi-funded LIV Golf that caused so much disruption in golf, said he now feels like a \u201csacrificial lamb" with […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":292915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=305409"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":305412,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305409\/revisions\/305412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/292915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=305409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=305409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=305409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}