Rory McIlroy takes yet another dig at LIV Golf with key giveaway about TGL
Rory McIlroy has claimed LIV Golf are in 'no man's land', after the Northern Irishman explained the key difference between his soon-to-be launched league TGL, and the Saudi-backed series.
McIlroy has gone into business with fellow PGA Tour star Tiger Woods, as the pair announced the formation of the innovative circuit named TGL last year. In recent weeks the league revealed its format and rules ahead of its anticipated launch in the New Year.
A total of 24 players - including McIlroy and Woods - are set to compete across six teams in the custom-built SoFi Center, that includes a state-of-the-art golf simulator, as well as an in-house chipping and putting area named the 'green zone'.
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The league's pull away from traditional golf, and its team-based competition has seen it draw comparisons to its rivals at LIV Golf. McIlroy though, was quick to bust this myth. Last week the Northern Irishman was announced alongside Tyrrell Hatton, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott as the players representing Boston Common in TGL's maiden season.
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And speaking at a team press conference, on Monday the four-time major champion said: "I think [TGL] is meant to be complimentary [to professional golf], this is not meant to be disrespectful in anyway. Whenever Mike [McCarley] brought this idea to Tiger and I, one of the first things we said is 'if we are going to do this we are going to have to partner with the PGA Tour in some way and make this complimentary'.
Rory McIlroy is working alongside Tiger Woods (Christian Petersen/Getty Images))"That was the first thing. This was not adversarial at all, it was 'how can we be added into the entire system'." Amid his staunch defence, McIlroy also aimed a cheeky dig at his LIV rivals. "We are pretending to be competitive, and it is different type of golf, but it is not the same golf you see week-in-week-out," he added.
"I don't want to sit here and talk about LIV but you could make the argument that they haven't innovated enough from what traditional golf is, or they have innovated too much that they not traditional golf. They are sort of caught in no-man's land, whereas this is so far removed from what we know golf to be."
The move away from a more traditional setting of pro golf was one LIV had prided itself on since its inception last June, a concept that has since been mirrored by TGL. McIlroy also revealed on Monday the reasoning behind the innovative setup, and the audience they are hoping to reach.
"I think trying to appeal to a wider sports audience," he added. "We are trying to sort of bring that court-side feel to a basketball game to golf in some ways. We are trying to let the fans that are at least in the arena get close to the action. Then I would say for the people tuning in at home, having us mic'd, having us being a little more interactive.
"I feel like when you watch a regular PGA Tour event you are a few steps removed from us in terms of you might pick up a couple of conversations here and there, but you are not getting right in on the action, and I think that is really important. I think that speaks more to the traditional golf fan, but what we are trying to really do here is broaden the demographic."
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