Rory McIlroy shares what many golf pros have been saying about the problems LIV Golf is facing.
Rory McIlroy has shared his thoughts about the tough situation LIV Golf is facing after losing its main funding source. When LIV Golf started in 2022, McIlroy stayed with the PGA Tour. Players who join LIV Golf can’t play in PGA Tour events, and those who try to come back might face penalties.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has supported LIV Golf with around $5 billion, recently announced it will stop funding the league. This has raised a lot of questions about what will happen next.
Some LIV Golf players have been asked what they’ll do if the league shuts down, and many say they don’t want to go back to the PGA Tour. The 2026 LIV Golf League still has many big names like Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, and Jon Rahm as team captains, with seven events left this season.
McIlroy, who has won a career grand slam, pointed out that it won’t be easy for LIV players to come back to the PGA Tour. He said, “The guys over there are under contract, and if they keep going and plan next year’s schedule, they’ll likely keep playing mostly on LIV, in whatever form that takes.”
The current Masters champion also mentioned that talk about money problems at LIV Golf has been happening for a while. He told The Guardian, “It was always possible. I think many of us, including me, kind of knew before the players did that this might happen. I heard about it back in March or April.”
He added that he talks a lot with friends on the LIV side, like caddie Ricky McCormick, who works for player Tom McKibbin. “I would ask Ricky if he’d heard anything. He said no, everything seemed fine. Then suddenly, the rug was pulled out from under them, and everyone was surprised. That’s the risk they took, and right now there’s a lot of uncertainty.”