McIlroy urges reset after LIV's 'false economy' at Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship
Rory McIlroy said before the start of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on Thursday that recent years in golf had been "a very strange" period and that change was needed to secure the long-term financial viability of the sport.
The 37-year-old from Northern Ireland, a vocal opponent of LIV Golf, spoke as the Saudi-backed breakaway tour faces uncertainty after the Saudi Public Investment Fund withdrew its backing following previous investment of more than $5bn (£3.8bn) and the league filed for bankruptcy protection last month. A potential $300m (£224m) financing package from BC Partners Credit has been reported as a route to a so-called LIV 2.0, but leading players including Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia have already walked away.
"I think we'll look back on it as a very strange time. It gave players a lot of leverage over the tours, and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing for the overall health of the professional game," McIlroy said before the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.
He called for a reset, saying: "I do think there has to be a bit of a reset. They [LIV Golf] created a false economy within men's professional golf, and I think that there is going to be a bit of a reset here just for things to be a little bit more sustainable." McIlroy added that reduced spending compared with a few years ago might feel detrimental to some players but argued sustainability was important for the tours' future.
McIlroy accused those connected to LIV Golf of making aggressive moves at major events, saying they were "going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European tour" as recently as this year's Masters in April. He also said: "They took players, they took sponsors [and] they turned professional golf into an arms race. It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realised 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 actually make them money."
On the course in Abu Dhabi, McIlroy is aiming to strengthen his bid to win the Race To Dubai for a record-equalling eighth time. He enters the penultimate event of the season at Yas Links GC third in the standings behind leader Eugenio Chacarra and American Patrick Reed, trailing Chacarra by 999.03 points, with 1,500 points available this week and a further 2,000 points on offer next week at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
"I'm excited to be here, excited to get going and excited to at least be in the conversation of trying to win another Race to Dubai," McIlroy said. "I know I'm going to have to have a [good] week this week to do that. Hopefully I can and make things interesting going into next week." He added: "I think what gives me comfort is the amount of points that are on offer this week and next week. So even if I don't win but I still have a strong finish, I'll still feel like I have a realistic chance going into next week."