Rory McIlroy has admitted he was wrong to hope the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF would eventually work out a concrete deal to reunite the top level of men's professional golf.
A framework agreement between the three main men's golf tours - which includes the DP World Tour - was signed in June 2023 and McIlroy was among those who publicly supported a future where the trio could potentially co-exist.
The six-time Major winner said at the time he felt the shock deal was "good for golf" and was confident something more permanent would be worked out in the end.
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However, as time wore on and the PGA Tour announced a multi-billion dollar investment deal with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), it became increasingly likely the sport would remain fractured on the men's side.
With the PIF now not only walking away from any kind of merger - but also from the LIV Golf League as a financial backer - and the PGA Tour seemingly making strides to improve with its new private equity partners, McIlroy admitted he should not have doubted the legacy circuit's ability to weather the storm.
Asked ahead of the PGA Championship how he felt about historically making calls for a merger before the PIF chose to walk away from golf, McIlroy said: "I'm glad I was wrong. I can admit when I'm wrong, and that was one that I did get wrong.
"I think it was always a possibility to happen. Look, I think everyone knows like with everything that's happening in the Middle East, that had a lot to do [with it]; but whenever you have funding tied so much to the geopolitical landscape in the world, that's a tricky road to navigate.
"Yeah, their priorities shifted, and that leaves LIV in a pretty precarious spot, but again... it was always a possibility."
McIlroy has certainly softened his stance over the team-based league since its inception but he remains very much a PGA Tour loyalist.
Nevertheless, the Northern Irishman shared he has a degree of sympathy for LIV golfers given McIlroy stated a healthy number of external parties knew of the PIF's intentions before plenty involved with LIV did.
McIlroy continued: "I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen. Like I was hearing about this back in March, April time.
"Look, I have friends over there. One of my best friends, Ricky, caddies for Tom McKibbin, who's over there, and I would talk to him all the time about what was going on. I was saying to Ricky, even before Mexico, 'Have you guys heard any of this stuff?' He was like, 'No, everything seems okay over here.'
"It just feels like the rug was pulled from under their feet and everyone was sort of blind sided by it. But again, that's the risk that those guys chose to take. As I said, it leaves... there's a lot of uncertainty in the air right now."
