As LIV Golf part ways with Brooks Koepka and negotiate with Bryson DeChambeau in what promises to be golf’s biggest guaranteed contract, Rory McIlroy is asking questions about the circuit’s future.
In the story written by The Telegraph’s James Corrigan, the Grand Slam winner and world No. 2, said it was good for Koepka to return to the PGA Tour after the five-time winner agreed to a number of punitive terms for leaving the Tour for LIV in 2022 – “putting Brooks back where he belongs,” McIlroy said. But McIlroy also questioned the direction of LIV as DeChambeau, one of the league’s stars, is in talks to renew a contract that expires at the end of the year.
As LIV begins its fifth season, it faces a situation where DeChambeau has a lot of leverage: He could be seeking a deal somewhere in the nine-figure range because of Koepka’s exit; and he can go, to the PGA Tour or perhaps to the creation of YouTube, a platform where he has gathered many fans. This is Corrigan’s place The Telegraph The thing is, McIlroy said that if DeChambeau rejoins LIV, however, the league will shell out hundreds of millions of dollars, just to maintain its current status.
“It’s not like they signed a lot of players this year, is it?” McIlroy said of Corrigan. “They haven’t signed anybody that moves the needle and I don’t think they will, I mean they can re-sign Bryson for hundreds of millions of dollars, but even if they change their product, they won’t, they’ll be paying the same thing.
“And they lost Brooks, so they’re going to be paying all this money again…”
McIlroy’s comments, made after a first-round match at the DP World Tour’s Dubai Invitational, were the first since Koepka’s condition came to an end on Monday, when the PGA Tour announced he would be allowed back on the circuit through what it called the “Returning Member Program.” Under that policy, Koepka and three current LIV players – DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith – will be allowed to return to the PGA Tour for their major tournament wins over the past four years, but will have to agree to a series of conditions, including making a $5 million charitable donation and not gaining access to the tour’s equity program for five years or the bonus program until 2026.
In making that announcement, the Tour said Koepka had agreed to those terms, while the others faced a February 2 deadline to decide. Or are they already there? On Tuesday, DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith were part of LIV’s season preview press conference, and each had these responses to the president’s question regarding Koepka and the Returning Member program.
DeChambeau said: “Yeah, I mean, look, I’m under contract until 2026, so I’m excited about this year.”
Rahm said: “Yeah, I’m not going anywhere.
And Smith: “I mean, I don’t really have any thoughts. I haven’t had much time to think about it. But I know I’m here to stay. I’m here to support LIV. I’m the captain of a great team and a great group of people. I’m happy where I’m at. I’m proud of where I’m at. I think we’re doing a lot of good things, especially this league that I can’t wait for in Australia.”
Editor’s note: To read Corrigan’s full story, please click here. It also includes McIlroy’s thoughts on the PGA Tour’s negotiations with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, and the PGA Tour’s approach.
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