Rory McIlroy has been one of LIV Golf’s loudest critics since the Saudi Arabia-backed league was founded in 2022.
The Northern Irishman has routinely reaffirmed his commitment to the competition’s lead adversary, the PGA Tour, going as far as telling reporters that he “hated” what the upstart brand did to the game of golf in 2022, although he’s tempered his digs at LIV in recent years.
Nevertheless, McIlroy and LIV Golf has always seemed an incompatible match. Recent reports indicate, however, that LIV — which has turned the heads of numerous PGA Tour lifers, including Jon Rahm — could be setting its sights on McIlroy in the coming few months.
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Here’s what you need to know about rumors linking the four-time major champion with Greg Norman and Public Investment Fund’s brainchild, LIV Golf.
Rory McIlroy LIV Golf rumors
McIlroy denies claims of LIV Golf switch
McIlroy swiftly denied a report Tuesday which suggested he was considering a multi-million offer from LIV golf, telling Golf Central’s Todd Lewis that not only did he never receive an offer from LIV Golf, but that he “will play the PGA Tour for the rest of [his] career.”
McIlroy’s latest comments seem to put the rumors of his impending departure to LIV to bed, although he did say that players across the spectrum need to “keep an open mind.”
However, he was clear that any chatter linking him to LIV Golf was categorically untrue.
“I honestly don’t know how these things get started,” McIlroy said. “I’ve never been offered a number from LIV. And I’ve never contemplated going to LIV.
MORE: A timeline of Rory McIlroy’s quotes regarding LIV Golf
“I think I’ve made it clear over the past two years that I don’t think it’s something for me.”
City A.M. report on Rory McIlroy
McIlroy was forced to dispel those rumors after City AM, England’s lead financial paper of record, reported Sunday that McIlroy was inching closer to agreeing to a mammoth $ 850 million deal to join LIV Golf.
The paper, which cited two anonymous sources but could not verify the authenticity of the claims, also stated that LIV’s offer will grant McIlroy around a two percent stake in the competition’s ownership.
The piece also detailed comments made by McIlroy’s former agent, Andrew “Chubby” Chandler, who told Bunkered that he believed McIlroy’s softening tone when discussing LIV Golf could indicate he could be on the move sooner rather than later.
“If you were being cynical, you might say he’s going to sign for about £750m in a month’s time with LIV because he’s paving the way that LIV’s okay now, whereas it wasn’t,” Chandler said in February. “He doesn’t need £750m but it’s odd what he’s done and I’m sure it’s a possibility. If he does it or not, I don’t know, but if [Jon] Rahm can do it, most guys can do it.”
McIlroy responded to the claims shortly thereafter. However, he appeared fairly bashful in his retort, telling reporters that there was always a puncher’s chance that he could sign for LIV.
“You never know, he might know a few things, who knows,” McIlroy said prior to the Cognizant Classic.
Rumors were further intensified when Norman tailed McIlroy and his group during the opening round of the Masters.
