Getty Image / Ben Jared
Rory McIlroy had arguably been the PGA Tour’s loudest critic of LIV Golf up until recently when Jon Rahm went to the Saudi-backed tour and Rory began changing his tune.
At the start of the year, Rory McIlroy said “I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV Golf at the start, and I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realize that not everyone is in my position, or in Tiger Woods’ position.” He added more, but all of this coming in the immediate wake of Jon Rahm signing a contract with LIV Golf seemed to raise a lot of eyebrows.
Now, Rory McIlroy‘s former agent, Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler, is speaking with Bunkered on how Rory’s recent comments and softening may signal LIV Golf in Rory’s future. Chandler said:
“Rory is of the ilk that he’ll say something because he likes to have an opinion but he’s quite happy to apologise for it and that’s what he’s done. If you were being cynical, you might say he’s going to sign for about £750million in a month’s time with LIV because he’s paving the way that LIV’s okay now, whereas it wasn’t.”
“Who knows? He doesn’t need £750m but it’s odd what he’s done and I’m sure it’s a possibility. If he does it or not, I don’t know, but if Rahm can do it, most guys can do it. I think number one, there’s a 10% possibility he’s favouring his way to sign for LIV, but he realises that the whole bickering and fighting is no good for golf. The man in the street must find it appalling the sums of money being spoken.”
🗣️👀 Rory McIlroy’s former agent Chubby Chandler thinks he could join LIV Golf:
"If you were being cynical, you might say he’s going to sign for about £750million in a month’s time with LIV because he’s paving the way that LIV’s okay now, whereas it wasn’t.
"Who knows? He… pic.twitter.com/Hu3RChZo56
— bunkered (@BunkeredOnline) February 22, 2024
While this is certainly an intriguing line of thought for the golf world it is important to mention why Rory McIlroy and his former agent Andrew Chandler split in the first place.
In 2012, Rory McIlroy publicly stated that his former agent “led (him) down the wrong path” and Rory cited giving up his PGA Tour card and skipping the Players Championship (both in 2010) as examples of how that agent led him down the wrong path.
Ultimately, yes, Rory McIlroy could make a move to LIV Golf at some point because they’d take him in a second and offer him up a blank check. But nothing in Rory’s past seems to indicate he’d be open to that move.
He’s already worth nearly $200 million and LIV Golf could offer Rory a $750M contract but Rory is making a fortune with the PGA Tour and will soon have the arena golf league with Tiger Woods once they get their tent rebuilt.
All that in mind, golfers have said ‘it’s not about money’ and then left for LIV Golf when they saw the offer. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Rory McIlroy could play on the LIV Golf tour at some point.