MIAMI:
Rory McIlroy admitted on Tuesday that PGA Tour’s top golfers reaped the benefits of the rise of the LIV Golf tournament sponsored by Saudi Arabia.
McIlroyhas been one of the PGA Tour’s staunch defenders in its bitter conflict with LIV last year, saying the introduction of the high-profile tour has forced the US tour to innovate.
The Northern Ireland star was speaking ahead of this week’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, which will be played on Thursday without fellow champion Cam Smith – who is on the run different to LIV.
The PGA Tour responded to the rise of LIV management by announcing its own no-cut money starting in 2024.
McIlroy said on Tuesday that those changes would not have happened if it had not been for LIV Golf.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie; I think the emergence of LIV or the emergence of a competitor on the PGA Tour has benefited everyone who plays professional golf,” McIlroy said. at a press conference.
“I think when you’ve been the biggest golf league in the biggest market in the world for the last 60 years, there’s not a lot of incentive to innovate.
“This has led to a lot of innovation in the PGA Tour. What, I would say, is an old system that is being updated to try to reflect where we are in the world at the 21st century and the media.
“The PGA Tour is not just competing with LIV Golf or other sports, it’s competing with Instagram and TikTok and all the other things that are trying to take the eyes off the PGA Tour as a product.
“LIV is coming up, it’s definitely going to have a big impact on the game, but I think everyone who plays professional golf is going to benefit from it going forward.”
McIlroy’s words were echoed by world number one Jon Rahm, who agreed that the power of change in the PGA Tour was due to the emergence of LIV Golf.
“Without a doubt,” Rahm said. “Without LIV Golf, this would not have happened.
“So, we have to thank this threat that made the PGA Tour want to change things. I wish the PGA Tour wasn’t under fire from someone else to make those changes. and improve things for the players. , but I guess this is what we needed.
“Well, yes, because of LIV Golf. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have seen any of this.”
The commissioner of the PGA Tour Jay Monahan at this time defended the introduction of no cut from 2024, noting that the PGA Tour has held similar tournaments in the past.
“The players competing in our events in this new format next year will have the right to compete and they will earn it through the top-50 positions in the FedExCup this years,” Monahan said.
“The PGA Tour has always had a time limit, no cut 72-hole tournament. In fact, Jack Nicklaus won 17 times in that format. Arnold Palmer won 23. Tiger Woods won 26 .
“To me, those victories, the format did not diminish those achievements as we sit here today.
LIV Golf made its inaugural season in 2022, attracting many PGA Tour players and winning big with huge signing bonuses and 54-hole tournaments that offer purses that reduce the richest in the PGA Tour.
The tournament was met with harsh criticism from human rights groups who said the tournament was a “game show” by Saudi Arabia in an effort to improve the country’s international standing.
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