World number one Rory McIlroy is urging that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf come to a compromise before golf’s biggest divide affects the future of the sport.
“I believe there is no more time to waste… PGA Tour and LIV will have to find a compromise and speak for the sake of our sport,” McIlroy told Italian publication Golf & Turismo, via National Club Golfer. “I don’t know when this can happen, certainly not tomorrow, but of course we will have to find an agreement.”
McIlroy, who won the CJ Cup last month in South Carolina, stressed how important it is to “stick together” in the sport.
“Golf is a small reality, it is not football where inside it large worlds such as Serie A, the Champions League, FIFA or UEFA coexist with each other,” he said. “So, even more so, we need to stick together and find a way to ensure that in the future there are no splits like the one we are witnessing today.”
McIlroy’s comments come just days after LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman said that the ball is in the PGA Tour’s court to negotiate.
“That is what has disappointed me the most. There was always room — always, always, always room — and there still is room for them [the PGA Tour] to sit down and understand what we have and what this is all about,” Norman said after the end of LIV Golf’s inaugural season.
“I quite honestly think the ball is in their court. It’s not in ours. We’ve tried. We’ve tried on numerous occasions, not just me personally but before I even came on board.”
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Norman said that he last reached out to the PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan “mid-year.” The Tour has declined a meeting with LIV Golf.
“We’ve had high up people reach out to try and explain it to them. We’ve extended an inclusion into the equity side of things where everybody would be the benefactors, not just the players, Every institution would be a benefactor,” Norman said. “LIV is definitely here to stay. We are not going anywhere.”
Norman also said that he believes some LIV Golf players would still like to compete in PGA Tour or DP World Tour events.
Since the inception of LIV Golf in October 2021, many of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars have defected to the rival tour, including Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith.
Others that resigned from their membership from the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf include, Sergio Garcia, Branden Grace, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Kevin Na, Louis Oosthuizen, Turk Pettit, Charl Schwartzel and Lee Westwood.
Mickelson and DeChambeau did not formally or voluntarily surrender their PGA Tour memberships.
In September, the PGA Tour confirmed that it won’t allow players affiliated with the LIV Golf league to renew their memberships for the 2022-23 year.
