Rory McIlroy has said it will be ‘hard to stomach’ seeing LIV Golf defectors when he heads to play at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club next week.
The 33-year-old, who has been one of the most vocal critiques of the breakaway Saudi League, became the first player to win the FedEx Cup three times in his career following his victory at the Tour Championship on Sunday.
It was a hard-fought win for the Northern Irishman, who started the tournament with a triple bogey on the first hole on Thursday but finished the week one shot clear of Sung Jai Im and Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler on -21.
Embed from Getty ImagesFollowing the win, McIlroy made clear his stance on LIV Golf and his opinion of some of the players who have joined the new tour.
He said: “If you believe in something I think you have to speak up and I believe very strongly about this – I really do.
“I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf. I hate it. I really do.”
The BMW PGA Championship is one of the premier tournaments on the DP World Circuit and will tee off on September 8th at the Wentworth Golf Club.
But there are a number of LIV registered players who will be playing at the event, including Patrick Reed, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia.
Open Champion Cameron Smith is one of six players announced as new signings to LIV Golf.
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) August 30, 2022
The other signings include Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III, Cameron Tringale, Marc Leishman and Anirban Lahiri 👇pic.twitter.com/AMhiozlEit
“Like it’s going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth in a couple of weeks’ time and seeing 18 of them there. That just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Last week, the four-time major winner announced a joint venture with Tiger Woods that will see a new stadium-based golf league accompany the PGA Tour schedule.
The pair also spearheaded a group of meetings alongside some of the most influential players on the PGA Tour, that has culminated in several revisions to how the Tour will work next year.
But while golf’s civil war continues to rage on, McIlroy also hoped that things could move forward in the future.
Embed from Getty ImagesHe said: “Yeah, that would be lovely. I think it probably will. I think it has got a little tribal. I certainly have that feeling at times.
“But in a way there’s been a great thing that’s happened, and that’s that the players that met in that room in Delaware all committed, maybe 22 out of the 23, committed to each other and committed to what can we do to make the Tour the best possible product so that we can all benefit.
“I think that was a huge turning point in all of this.”
McIlroy started the weekend six shots behind top seed Scheffler and at one stage clawed back a 10-shot deficit to usurp the American and lift his third FedEx Cup title, carding an opening pair of 67s and a 63 on Saturday that put him into the final pairing with the 54-hole leader.
Despite starting his final round with a bogey, the Northern Irishman scored five birdies to pull even with the 2022 Masters champion and convert a 31-foot birdie on the 15th that pushed him to the top of the leaderboard.
Embed from Getty ImagesDuring the trophy presentation, McIlroy said: “Winning the FedEx means an awful lot. I believe in the game of golf. I believe in this Tour in particular. I believe in the players on this Tour.
“It’s the greatest place in the world to play golf, bar none, and I’ve played all over the world. This is an incredibly proud moment for me, but it should also be an incredibly proud moment for the PGA Tour.
“I feel like Scottie deserves at least half of this today. He has had an unbelievable season. I feel sort of bad that I pipped him to the post, but he’s a hell of a competitor.
“He’s an even better guy. It was an honour and a privilege to battle with him and I’m sure we’ll have many more. I told him we’re one-all in Georgia today: He got the Masters and I got this!”
