Getty Image
Earlier this week, the world of golf was rocked to its core after the PGA Tour announced it had agreed to merge with LIV Golf after more than a year defined by the heated tensions between the two leagues.
While that development could technically be viewed as a truce, there were still plenty of issues the PGA Tour had to hash out both externally and internally thanks in no small part to the loyalists who were understandably less than thrilled about Jay Monahan’s decision to strike a deal with the upstart organization many of them refused to join despite having millions of reasons to do so.
It’s hard to imagine there were many people who felt betrayed more than Rory McIlroy, who emerged as one of the most vocal critics of LIV Golf and heavily implied the time and energy he’d spent pushing back against the rival league had been detrimental to his play on the course.
McIlroy made it very clear his feelings about LIV hadn’t changed in the wake of the merger, and it would appear some figures on the other side of the feud aren’t exactly ready to give him a pass for what he said in the past now that both organizations have combined.
One of the biggest questions surrounding the merger was the logistics of bringing the two leagues together—especially the fate of the team-based, 54-hole format LIV Golf adopted in an attempt to set itself apart.
Now, we’ve gotten some insight into what the new reality may look like courtesy of golf writer Alan Shipnuck, who spoke to a number of people familiar with the deal in an article from The Firepit Collective in an attempt to firm up the vision for LIV’s future.
As things currently stand, it appears LIV Golf will continue to exist as its own entity and players will be given the chance to participate in events outside of the official PGA Tour schedule.
However, based on what one insider had to say, it doesn’t seem like McIlroy will receive an invitation, as the unnamed executive threw some major shade at the Northern Irishman, saying:
“Now we can finally get Hideki [Matsuyama] and Jon Rahm. I would say every big name on the PGA Tour will get an offer.
Except Rory. Nobody wants that little b**** on their team.”
LIV Golf may have merged with the PGA Tour, but something tells me the drama is far from over.