MCILROY SAYS LIV PLAYERS WERE ‘BLINDSIDED’
Rory McIlroy speaks during his press conference at the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink, Philadelphia (Photo: PGA Championship)
On the eve of the PGA Championship Rory McIlroy took time during his press conference to say players from LIV Golf had the “rug pulled from under their feet” following recent news that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) are ending their financial backing after the 2026 season.
The six-time Major winner also admitted he was wrong when he previously suggested that some form of agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV’s backers was likely.
“I’m glad I was wrong,” he said. “I can admit when I’m wrong, and that was one that I did get wrong.” He said a change in priorities among LIV’s Saudi backers had altered the outlook for the league. “Their priorities shifted, and that leaves LIV in a pretty precarious spot,” he said.
“I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen,” said McIlroy during his media conference at Aronimink, Philadelphia. “I was hearing about this back in March, April time.”
The Public Investment Fund confirmed last month that it would stop funding LIV after 2026, prompting fresh questions about the league’s long-term future and the options available to players already under contract.
The Northern Ireland hero said he had spoken to close friend Ricky McCormick, who caddies for Tom McKibbin on LIV, before the Mexico event where news of the funding change began to circulate more widely. According to McIlroy, McCormick told him there had been no indication inside the camp that such a move was coming.
“He was like, ‘No, everything seems okay over here,’” McIlroy said. He added: “It just feels like the rug was pulled from under their feet and everyone was sort of blindsided by it.”
McIlroy also said the uncertainty was part of the risk for players who had joined the breakaway circuit.
Asked whether LIV could continue in its current form beyond 2026, McIlroy said he was not in a position to judge the league’s commercial arrangements but suggested any future version may look significantly different from the one launched in 2022.