DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Rory McIlroy said he believes the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have grown “too far apart” to form an alliance and bring a splintered sport back together.
“I just don’t see a world where it can happen at this point,” McIlroy said Wednesday at the Dubai Desert Classic on the European tour.
Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour from LIV has brought into sharper focus the fading hopes of any form of deal being struck by top officials on the two circuits.
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Even U.S. President Donald Trump has gotten involved in the negotiations at one point, but there is no sign of a commercial partnership that was first raised in 2023 when the tours announced a framework agreement.
To McIlroy, who was once one of the most outspoken critics of LIV before distancing himself from talks, it looks as far away as ever.
“Just I don’t see a world where the two or three sides or whoever it is will give up enough,” he said, in a reference to the involvement of the European tour in talks. “Like for reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won.
“I think they are just too far apart for that to happen.”
Among the top players still with LIV are Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who were McIlroy’s teammates in Europe’s Ryder Cup win at Bethpage Black last year.
Rahm and Hatton are currently going through an appeal process after being sanctioned with fines by the European tour for playing the LIV Golf circuit. They are still allowed into European tour events while the process plays out.
McIlroy said paying the fines would be a sign of their commitment to Europe’s Ryder Cup team ahead of the 2027 matches in Ireland.
“We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup, and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups,” McIlroy said. “There’s two guys that can prove it.”
McIlroy will be playing on the European tour for a second straight week, having finished tied for third at the Dubai Invitational on Sunday. He shared the lead at one stage in the final round but wound up two strokes back of winner Nacho Elvira.
The No. 2-ranked McIlroy said he is constantly shifting his expectations and goals after completing the career Grand Slam last year. For the Northern Irishman, it’s mostly about “finding joy in the process.”
“I think I need to show up at tournaments with enthusiasm every single time,” he said. “So playing in the places that I want to play, playing the tournaments I want to play, not feeling like I’m at a tournament because I’m obligated or have to be there but because I want to be there.”
Asked what he still wanted to achieve in golf, McIlroy said: “Olympic medal. Open at St. Andrews. Yeah, maybe like a U.S. Open at one of those like old, traditional golf courses — whether it’s Shinnecock this year or Winged Foot or Pebble Beach [or] Merion.
“I would have told you two years ago,” he added, “if I won the Masters, it would have been great and I could have retired or whatever. But when you keep doing things, the goalposts keep moving and you just keep finding new things that you want to do.”
