Rory McIlroy Casts Doubt Over LIV Golf's Long-Term Future

Rory McIlroy has raised doubts over LIV Golf's future if its Saudi PIF backers do not make a return on investment.

McIlroy was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, where he gave his general thoughts on LIV Golf today and why it doesn't resonate with him as well as the possibility of LIV stars returning to the PGA Tour.

The Money in Sport newsletter predicted in May that PIF's investment in LIV Golf would reach $5 billion by the end of 2025, and it was revealed in October that the league's UK entity has suffered total losses of more than $1.1 billion between its launch in 2021 and the end of 2024, including more than $450m in 2024 alone.

Later in October, CEO Scott O'Neil revealed the league had brought in "half a billion" dollars worth of sponsorship over the past 10 months, but it is unknown if or when the circuit will turn a profit.

And if it doesn't turn a profit in the next few years, Rory McIlroy, one of LIV's most outspoken critics since its launch in 2022, thinks the PIF could begin thinking about ending it altogether.

"I don't like what it [LIV Golf] has done to our game because it's created this massive fracture, and I said on this podcast last time that maybe I was a bit too judgemental of the guys that went because not everyone is in the same position that I'm in," he said.

"If you get offered double the money to do the same job, it's sorta hard to turn down.

"I think the thing is with LIV is it hasn't really resonated with people. I think there's some good elements too it.

"I've watched a little bit of it and it's just not - maybe 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 gonna be different, we're gonna be this, we're gonna be that.' Even the fact that 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, you know? Apart from the money.

"I think it does [the men's game reuiniting in the next few years]. I don't know but if LIV is failing to capture the imagination and they've spent so much money on this venture and it isn't making a return for them, I don't know how much longer they can keep it going."

The subject of big name LIV players returning to the PGA Tour is now a real possibility after Brooks Koepka confirmed he had left the league after four years last month.

Koepka will likely be suspended for 12 months from his last LIV start in August before returning to PGA Tour events in the fall due to his status as a 2023 Major champion, but the possibility of an immediate return seems unlikely and would go against the usual 12-month suspension rules.

McIlroy says he would have no issues with big names returning straight away but admits the decision would be the entire membership's to make.

"I think they've already paid their consequence," he said on LIV players returning to the tour.

"They've made the money but paid their consequence in terms of you talk about the reputation and some of the things they've lost by going over there.

"If it made the overall tour stronger to have Bryson DeChambeau back and whoever else, I would be okay with it. But again, it's not just me and I recognize that not everyone is in my position so it would be up to the collective group of PGA Tour members to make that decision."

In the 60+ minute episode, McIlroy also described the 2025 Ryder Cup crowd as "by far" the worst he has experienced in his career and went into detail on his Masters victory among other things. Watch the full episode below:

Rory McIlroy Returns: Gift To Roy Keane, Winning The Masters & Man Utd | Stick to Football EP 109 - YouTube

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