PGA Tour and LIV merge 'broke McIlroy's heart' as rebels bitter towards golfer
Rory McIlroy is said to have been left heartbroken after the PGA Tour announced it would work in unison with LIV Golf following their year-long bitter feud.
In June the P GA Tour reached a shock agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), that would bring to an end their dispute with LIV Golf. The saga surrounding the two circuits brought around arguably the ugliest year in professional golf, after the sport was left torn in two.
One man who firmly made his feelings clear throughout the dispute was McIlroy, who announced himself as somewhat of a player representative for the PGA Tour.
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The former world No. 1 proved to be one of LIV's biggest critics, which made the news of the proposed merger all the harder to swallow for the four-time major winner. The former rivals are set to work alongside each other under the entity 'NewCo', which will seemingly reunite players from both sides of the divide.
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For McIlroy, this could prove awkward following his firm stance against the LIV critic. And according to Alan Shipnuck, the author of the soon-to-be-released 'LIV & Let Die' book, the Northern Irishman has definitely split opinion with his fellow players.
Shipnuck told The Times : "There is a great divide on how Rory is viewed. I respect Rory because he was willing to say out loud what a lot of people were thinking and he showed a lot of courage and conviction. Unfortunately for Rory, he is also an idealist and he thought he was fighting for something larger than himself.
Rory McIlroy is one of LIV Golf's biggest critics (PA)"Then the money guys came in — Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy [PGA Tour directors] — and they completely sold him out and kind of broke his heart. Rory learnt a hard lesson about the real world. Idealism only goes so far and money always wins."
On the back of the framework announcement in June, McIlroy himself admitted he felt like the 'sacrificial lamb' having previously fronted the PGA Tour's defence against LIV Golf. Speaking at the RBC Canadian Open, he said: “It is hard for me not to feel like a sacrificial lamb.
"I have put myself out there. I can see that this is better for golf. As an individual, there are going to be conversations.” Despite the proposed unison, it appeared McIlroy was in no mood to change his opinion on the Saudi-backed league. "I still hate LIV Golf," he added.
"You have to look that in ten years it is going to be good for the game. I don’t understand a lot of the intricacies of what is going on. Whether you like it or not, the PIF were going to keep spending money in golf. How can you get the money into the game and spend it in the right way. At least the PGA Tour can now control that. At the end of the day, money talks.”
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