In a business forum interview two weeks ago, Rory McIlroy sounded conciliatory about LIV Golf players hoping to return to other pro golf tourssaying that he would receive them back.
Although he was less generous about LIV Golf and its managers, saying they have “lost” billions in golf investments and that LIV’s founders had “half a good idea that was executed pretty badly.”
On Wednesday in his press conference at the 2026 Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, McIlroy continued this theme, stating that he strongly agreed with the DP World Tour The CEO’s recent claim that LIV Golf sought to “destroy the European Tour”.
Rory McIlroy on the negative impact of LIV: “They have turned professional golf into an arms race”
McIlroy heads into Abu Dhabi this week with a lot on the line. So far in his career, he has won the DP World Tour season race in Dubai seven times. That leaves him just shy of tying the all-time record held by Colin Montgomerie.
Currently in second place in the ranking behind Eugenio Chacarra, McIlroy we need to make some magic in the final two tournaments of the season to claim this year’s title.
And in his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, LIV questions were coming to him.
The specific topic of the day was Guy Kinnings, CEO of DP World Tour. recent interview with the Scottishin which he stated LIV Golf has been for the DP World Tour since the beginning.
“We also have to protect the tour against an entity that has spent, so we are told, more than $7 billion, with one of its goals is to destroy the DP World Tour. I have heard that from so many different people who have spoken, that I have known for more than 30 years in the game and that I trust implicitly,” said Kinnings to the. Scottish. “Clearly when you are faced with statements like that, and then people ask why we do what we do with our membership and invite politics for 2027, then I think the answer becomes quite obvious.”
The “accession policy” in question is a new one in which the DP World Tour has banned all players who signed up for LIV 2.0 from playing in DP World Tour events. and maintain their membership.
In a quick interview before his formal press conference, McIlroy said he agreed with everything Kinnings said about LIV, including the fact that LIV executives were telling people they were going to “destroy” the DP World Tour during Masters week.
“Verbatim. They were going around Augusta this year telling people that’s what they wanted to do,” McIlroy said of the people involved in LIV Golf.
“And then, it’s ironic that a week later, now they’re talking about completion and not competing and all that,” McIlroy said, referring to The statement of Scott O’Neil, CEO of LIV Golf that he sees LIV 2.0 be complementary to other pro tours, not a competitor. “It’s different than what they said at the beginning of the year.”
McIlroy explained his opinion on Wednesday, saying LIV has turned pro golf into an “arms race.”
“I agree with everything Guy said. They’re taking players; they’re taking sponsors; they’ve turned professional golf into an arms race,” McIlroy said. “They went around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour. Yes, I agree with everything.”
He then went a step further by saying that people who disagreed with Kinnings’ LIV opinion were “very short-sighted”. He presented LIV’s short-lived association with the Asian Tour as evidence.
“I think the people who disagree are probably very short-sighted. Look, there was some money that was used the right way, it created the International Series on the Asian Tour, great for a couple of years, but where did it leave the Asian Tour? They left it high and dry,” McIlroy argued. “The Asian Tour is back in the fold. It has partnered with the PGA Tour and the European Tour.”
He also argued that LIV’s downfall, and Saudi Arabia’s PIF leaving the league, were foregone conclusions from the start.
“That was always the case,” McIlroy said. “It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realized 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 really make them money.
Ultimately, McIlroy explained that the LIV Golf-DP World Tour battle, and the possible demise of LIV Golf, will leave the DP World Tour stronger than ever.
“I know they’re working on a new agreement with the PGA Tour post-’27 after the first Strategic Alliance is kind of over or it can be renegotiated, and I know things are progressing there and hopefully everything will be done up there, maybe in the next few weeks,” said McIlroy. “I think this is as strong as this tour has been in a long, long time. You know, I thought what Guy had to say last night in that article was very good.”
McIlroy calls to “reset” in “false economy” LIV created
Later in his Abu Dhabi press conference, McIlroy revealed two other surprising opinions involving LIV, opinions that on the surface seemed to run counter to the personal interests of the six-time major winner.
First, he argued that the LIV era gave pro golfers too much power over pro tours and governing bodies.
“I think we’re going to look back on it as a very strange time. Yeah, it was — it gave players a lot of influence on the tours, and I don’t necessarily think that’s a good thing for the overall health of the professional game,” McIlroy said. “I think there’s got to be a balance here. There’s got to be some give and take. You know, I’ve said this from the beginning, like there’s never been a better time to be a professional golfer. You know, talk to Jack Nicklaus or any of these older guys, they would have loved for LIV to come in their day, they would have made more money, and we’re all making more money.”
Money, especially the drastically increased purses on professional tours during the LIV erawas the focus of McIlroy’s next counterintuitive opinion: that pro golfers do way too much money at tournaments.
“But I think there needs to be a bit of a reset. I’ve talked about it. They’re creating a false economy in men’s professional golf, and I think there’s going to be a bit of a reset here, that – just for things to be a little more sustainable,” McIlroy said. “You know, there’s not as much of an arms race as maybe a couple of years ago, and some players will argue that that’s not good for the players … but I think that’s short-term thinking.”
He continued: “If you want sustainable tours, and we want these tours to be around for 50 years, there have to be sustainable business practices to ensure that they are around for 50 years.”
McIlroy will get his Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship campaign started on Thursday morning, playing alongside former LIV pro and Race to Dubai teammate Patrick Reed. They will be joined in the field by another former LIV star making the first start of his post-LIV career: Jon Rahm.
