Rory McIlroy carded a 4-under 67 in the second round of the Truist Championship on Friday to move inside the top 10 at a tournament he’s won four times, but even with the World No. 2 climbing into contention in Charlotte, the big topic of conversation in the golf world is the future of LIV Golf.
That included McIlroy’s post-round press conference, where he spoke for the first time about LIV losing funding from the Saudi Arabia PIF. While McIlroy has opted to no longer lead the charge against LIV and take a much more diplomatic tone when discussing the rival tour, he can’t help but get a dig in when the opportunity presents itself.
“I think everyone sort of knows my views on LIV and where it stands in the game of golf. I don’t think I need to rehash any of that,” McIlroy said. “It’s never been for me and, look, it doesn’t mean that LIV is going to go away. They’re going to go and try and find alternative investment, whatever that may look like. But when one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you’re too expensive for them, that sort of says something.”
Much of the conversation in the weeks since LIV’s funding concerns became news has been about the potential return of stars like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to the PGA Tour. Rahm is still under contract and recently noted he didn’t see a way out of his deal, but DeChambeau is a free agent after the 2026 season.
However, he’s voiced his concerns about a return to the PGA Tour, citing among other things their policy on content creation and the limitations he may face in maximizing his YouTube channel if he returned.
When McIlroy was asked about what the path back should be for guys who left for LIV, he noted he wants the PGA Tour to be as strong as possible, but felt the real question is whether the LIV guys really want to return.
“It’s a question if they do want to come back. Obviously we have seen the quotes over the last few days,” McIlroy said. “And, it seems like some of the guys, if — again, it all depends on what happens to LIV — but if it is a scenario where they have the option to come back and play on the traditional tours, you know, I think Brian Rolapp has said anything that makes this Tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, I think everyone should be open to that. That’s just good business practice.”
That echoes what Rolapp has said in recent interviews, including on Friday, but he’s also noted the scar tissue that still exists with bringing back some of the players who left and were particularly brash about their departures — namely DeChambeau.
When asked specifically about guys questioning whether they’d want to return to the Tour, McIlroy once again began diplomatically before ending with a pointed statement about what it says about those who would choose not to play on the PGA Tour if they had the opportunity.
“Which is totally fine. Like, again, I think I’ve said at the start, I was probably too judgmental with the guys that went because I was seeing it from my point of view and maybe not seeing it from other points of view. But again, I’m not going to judge anyone for not wanting to play on the PGA Tour.
“Does that mean that they go play DP World Tour, maybe? If that’s a pathway, that would make the DP World Tour stronger, and I would be delighted with that, because that’s my home tour at the end of the day.
“But this is — if you want to be the most competitive golfer you can be, this is the place to be. And if you don’t want to play here, I think that says something about you.”
McIlroy didn’t name any names in his answers, but it’s not hard to read between the lines and feel like he’s offering commentary on DeChambeau, specifically.
That growing rivalry between McIlroy and DeChambeau has been one of the best storylines in golf in recent years, with DeChambeau besting McIlroy at the U.S. Open before Rory got his revenge at the Masters and Ryder Cup in 2025. Now he doesn’t just have the upper hand in that rivalry on the course, but off of it as well with DeChambeau’s future suddenly in flux.
While McIlroy is not willing to take a public victory lap about LIV Golf’s apparent demise, he will still needle at his rivals. Instead of pushing back on the potential for those top stars to return to the PGA Tour, he’s issuing a challenge to come back and compete with the world’s best again, because how can you consider yourself a world-class competitor if you won’t do what it takes to have that opportunity?