'They Were Going Around Augusta Saying They Wanted To Destroy The European Tour' - 4 Key Takeaways From Rory McIlroy's Abu Dhabi Press Conference

Seven-time Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy is seldom short of a word on LIV Golf, and that was true once again ahead of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.

The Northern Irishman trails Spain's Eugenio Chacarra by around 1,000 points in the Race to Dubai standings, and while there were several questions about how McIlroy plans to cut that gap over the coming days in order to move level with Colin Montgomerie's all-time record, the most common topic related to LIV.

In truth, the subject largely dominated McIlroy's pre-tournament press conference as he prepares to try and win in the Emirate for the first time ever.

A question regarding Guy Kinnings' responses to an interview with The Scotsman arguably provided the most intriguing answer from the 37-year-old.

'They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour'

Kinnings revealed he had been informed LIV "wanted to destroy the European Tour" earlier in the year and, as a result, will now be doing everything in his power to protect the Wentworth-based circuit from harm - something McIlroy corroborated in his press conference on Wednesday.

Asked whether he agreed with the DP World Tour's CEO on the matter, McIlroy replied: "Yeah, I do. I do agree. Yeah, I do. I agree with everything that Guy said.

"They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour.

"Yeah, I agree with everything. I think people that don't agree are probably very shortsighted."

MEN'S PRO GOLF 'IN A MUCH BETTER SPOT'

McIlroy went on to highlight the affect LIV Golf had on the Asian Tour which appeared to be on an upwards trajectory prior to the Saudi PIF pulling its funding.

In an interview with Golf Monthly, Asian Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant called the move "devastating to our tour."

McIlroy continued: "Look, there was some of the money that [LIV] used the right way, created the International Series on The Asian Tour, great for a couple years, but where did that leave the Asian Tour? They left them high and dry.

"Asian Tour came back into the fold. Did a partnership with the PGA Tour and The European Tour.

"Again, this was always going to be the case. It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realised they weren't going to get any return on investment, or they were going to leave the golf space and go invest in something else and invest in something that would actually make them money.

"I think for long-term sustainability for men's professional golf, I think we are in a much better spot."

A 'STRANGE' PERIOD IN THE GAME

The future of LIV Golf is currently far from certain, despite claims from the league now backed by BC Partners that it remains "on track" to complete a successful transition.

LIV's fate was hardly helped by the likes of Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia announcing they were quitting last month, either, leading to many people feeling it is now only a matter of time until the circuit's complete demise.

Reflecting on a tumultuous five years from men's pro golf, McIlroy called the period "strange" but hopes lessons can now be learned by the other main tours and a "reset" can occur.

Referencing the time in which LIV Golf's original iteration was around, McIlroy said: "I think we'll look back on it as a very strange time.

"Yeah, it gave players a lot of leverage over the tours, and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing for the overall health of the professional game. I think there has to be a balance there. There has to be a bit of give and take.

"You know, I've said this from the start, like there's never been a better time to be a professional golfer.

"Talk to Jack Nicklaus or any of these older guys, they would have loved LIV to come around in their day, they would have made more money, and we are all making more money because of it.

"But I do think there has to be a bit of a reset. I've talked about this it. They created a false economy within men's professional golf, and I think that there is going to be a bit of a reset here, just for things to be a little bit more sustainable.

"You know, there's not as much of an arms race as there was maybe a couple of years ago, and some players will argue that that's not good for players but I think that's very short-term thinking.

"Like, if you want sustainable tours, and we want these tours around in 50 years' time, there has to be sustainable business practises in place to make sure they are."

MCILROY CONSIDERED GIVING UP DP WORLD TOUR CARD

One way the DP World Tour is trying to protect itself moving forward is by sticking to a rule introduced in 2017 - long before LIV was born - that says anyone who relinquishes membership for any reason cannot be considered for Ryder Cup captaincy in the future.

It is a rule which has effectively stopped the likes of Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter taking up a role they were surely destined for.

Said rule almost stopped McIlroy, too, with the six-time Ryder Cup winner revealing he almost gave up his membership prior to Covid before realizing it would have prevented one of his long-term dreams.

McIlroy said: "Yeah, I nearly fell foul of that rule. I was going to give my DP World Tour membership up in 2019, and I had a chat with Keith Pelley (ex-DP World Tour CEO) at the time, and said, "Look, you know, based in America. I want to focus over there for a bit."

"And Keith said to me, "Totally fine but you do know if you give up your membership or you resign your membership, you can't be a captain or vice captain of the Ryder Cup in the future."

"And I was like, "Well, I'm not going to do that then."

"So like I nearly made that choice and having that chat with Keith Pelley and knowing rules, I was like, well, of course I want to be a Ryder Cup Captain one day. There was no decision to be made."