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It was hard to not take LIV Golf seriously when it began to poach a number of high-profile players from the PGA Tour in 2022, and it didn’t take long for the people who stayed loyal to the second organization to mount a counteroffensive.
Rory McIlroy quickly emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the upstart league, and he (along with Tiger Woods) was instrumental in helping the PGA Tour develop a plan of attack in an attempt to stop the bleeding and reduce the incentive to defect.
The Northern Irishman wasn’t afraid to admit the battle was somewhat personal, as he made it very clear he had a bone to pick with LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, a man who hasn’t been shy about firing a few shots of his own at McIlroy.
Last year, McIlroy hinted the drama was getting to him when he floated the idea of some type of truce with LIV, and he was a bit more direct when he stated “I’m ready to get back to being purely a golfer” after missing the cut at The Players Championship in March.
Norman appeared to take a somewhat premature victory lap when he noted McIlroy had toned down his criticism of LIV earlier this month, but it doesn’t seem like he was too off-base based on what the latter had to say ahead of this weekend’s PGA Championship.
According to Golf Digest, McIlroy spoke with members of the press who’d gathered at Oak Hill Country Club on Tuesday ahead of the event and declined to answer a question about how he felt the professional game might evolve over the next few years, saying, “I don’t have a crystal ball.”
He also only needed one word to respond to another query from a reporter who asked if he was consciously avoiding wading into the LIV fray, simply saying “Yeah” when they inquired if skirting the topic will be “a conscious thing for you going forward.”
That flicking sound you hear right now is Greg Norman lighting up a victory cigar.