Rory McIlroy details "dream scenario" after PGA Tour and LIV Golf feud

10 January 2024 , 11:48

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Rory McIlroy has detailed how he sees a potential merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf eventually playing out in the future (Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy has offered up a potential solution to the standoff between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf by proposing a new-look world circuit resembling Formula One.

The Northern Irish superstar was previously one of the most vocal critics of the defectors who eventually joined the breakaway LIV Golf in recent times. However, the prospect of a binding truce has looked on the cards between the warring factions following the shock announcement of plans for a merger last summer.

That said, progress on a final agreement between the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour stalled during the second half of 2023. Despite a deadline for a deal having been set for Dec. 31, this was eventually extended as the interested parties continue to lay out a clear blueprint moving forward.

Household names including Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and John Rahm having been coaxed by the riches on offer in the Gulf State over the past two years. As a result, the golfing landscape is almost unrecognisable to previous eras but now McIlroy has admitted that the shake-up of the game has enabled re-evaluation to take place.

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Speaking to Golf Digest in Dubai, the world No. 2 has explained his vision for the future, saying: "Going forward, if everything is on the table, venues have to be a big part of the consideration. My dream scenario is a world tour, with the proviso that corporate America has to remain a big part of it all. Saudi Arabia, too. That's just basic economics.

"But there is an untapped commercial opportunity out there. Investors always want to make a return on their money. Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about $2.3 billion. So how do we get that number up to four or six? To me, it is by looking outward. They need to think internationally and spread their wings a bit. I've been banging that drum for a while."

The four-time major champion also went into detail about how a new world tour could look, proposing a with a wide-ranging hypothetical schedule in a variety of locations. "Whether they are rotated on the new global circuit, or we go with the same ones every year, I'm OK with either," he added.

Northern Irish star Rory McIlroy has loosely based his idea on the Formula One schedule

With a range of options open to consideration, he even hinted that the proposed world tour should essentially operate in a similar way to Formula One. Outlining a potential framework for a 22-event schedule for the 'top 70-100' players in the world, he continued: "The Australian Open, for example, should almost be the fifth major.

"The market down there is huge with potential. They love golf. They love sport. They have been starved of top-level golf. And the courses are so good. The South African Open is another I'd have in the mix. Then you have places like Singapore and Hong Kong and Japan. What a market Japan represents. That would be another opportunity."

McIlroy added: "We could end up with something that resembles Formula One, but with a little more of an American presence. Throw in the four majors and you have a brilliant schedule for the top 70-100 guys, whatever the number is. We'd have, say a 22-event schedule. That would look pretty good to me."

Tom Beattie