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McIlroy told reporters that the LIV continues to create a divide
across the sport -- and that divide isn't beneficial for any of
the parties involved.
"I don't want a fractured game. I never have. You look at some
other sports and what's happened and the game of golf is ripping
itself apart right now," McIlroy said. "It's no good for the
guys on, you know, this side or the sort of traditional system
and it's no good for the guys on the other side, either. It's no
good for anyone. There is a time and a place for it. I just
think right now, with where everything is, it's probably not the
right time."
Things are even starting to heat up in court, as multiple
golfers challenged bans they had received from other tours for
participating in an LIV event.
"I've always said I think there is a time and a place where
everyone that's involved here should sit down and try to work
together," McIlroy said. "It's very hard for that to happen
right now when there's two lawsuits going on."
Those on the LIV circuit have also been adamant that they should
receive points from the Official World Golf Ranking, something
that McIlroy doesn't necessarily see any problems with
considering a number of talented golfers are associated with the
LIV.
But with the LIV playing three rounds -- only 54 holes -- at
each tournament while the PGA Tour plays four rounds, McIlroy
said there needs to be some sort of compromise if that's going
to happen.
"You can't make up your own rules. There's criteria there,
everyone knows what they are and if they want to pivot to meet
the criteria they can," McIlroy said. "I certainly have no
problem with them getting ranking points at all. But you just
have to meet the criteria, and if you don't meet the criteria,
it's going to be hard to justify why you should have them."
As for the PGA Tour and LIV making peace with each other, that
seems unlikely to happen, at least as long as Jay Monahan is
commissioner of the PGA Tour.
Monahan reiterated his long-stated opinion about LIV in an
interview published by ESPN on Wednesday.
Asked if the tours could coexist, Monahan replied, "I'd provide
the same answer. The answer to that is they've gone down their
path and I think we have been pretty consistent that we're going
down ours, and I don't see that happening. Haven't, and I
don't."
Monahan expressed confidence that the PGA Tour will outlast LIV.
"Any young kid today, any kid that's going to be playing the
game going forward ultimately is going to want to win the
biggest championships, the biggest tournaments, and put
themselves in a position and on a path over the course of their
golf journey to get to the PGA Tour and to ... achieve at the
highest level," he said. "We are going to continue to evolve and
get stronger in every single area of that spectrum or of that
journey."
--Field Level Media
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