Rory McIlroy urges PGA Tour, LIV Golf to 'get over it' amid lagging reunification negotiations

Rory McIlroy urges PGA Tour, LIV Golf to ‘get over it’ amid lagging reunification negotiations

Posted by author February 12, 2025 Golf

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Rory McIlroy has a simple solution for the golf world in its quest to come back together after the tumultuous PGA Tour-LIV Golf split.

“Get over it.”

McIlroy spoke ahead of the Genesis Invitational on Wednesday from Torrey Pines in San Diego, where he and Tour commissioner Jay Monahan were hit with plenty of questions about the state of the sport and negotiations between the Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — which, years later, are still ongoing.

Though McIlroy is no longer part of those discussions, his fix is an easy one.

“We don’t look behind us. We don’t look to the past,” he said. “Whatever’s happened has happened and it’s been unfortunate, but reunification, how we all come back together and move forward, that’s the best thing for everyone.

“If people are butt hurt or have their feelings hurt because guys went or whatever, like who cares? Let’s move forward together and let’s just try to get this thing going again and do what’s best for the game.”

The Tour and the PIF have been negotiating terms of their partnership since Monahan shocked the sport with his announcement in June 2023 — which came after years of a heated back-and-forth between the two leagues. The two sides seem much closer now than at any point previously, but no deal has been reached.

At one point, McIlroy was one of the most outspoken critics of LIV Golf. Monahan’s announcement, he said at the time, made him feel like a sacrificial lamb. He’s since changed his tune about everything, which he made clear once again by Wednesday’s comments. And he’s trying to focus on the positives that LIV Golf has brought to the sport — like the $20 million purse up for grabs this week at Torrey Pines. The second league, McIlroy said, has left Tour golfers with an incredible amount of leverage to improve their league.

“Whether you stayed on the PGA Tour or you left, we have all benefited from this,” McIlroy said. “I’ve been on the record saying this a lot, like we’re playing for a $20 million prize fund this week. That would have never happened if LIV hadn’t have come around.”

Monahan and Adam Scott met with President Donald Trump at the White House about the negotiations last week, which appeared to go well. Trump, an avid golfer and golf fan, has previously claimed he could get a LIV Golf-PGA Tour deal done in “the better part of 15 minutes.”

Though McIlroy wasn’t part of that meeting, and he hasn’t had specific discussions with Trump, he did reveal that he golfed with Trump in Florida before the inauguration. He was spotted walking with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., at Torrey Pines on Wednesday, too.

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 12: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Donald Trump Jr. walk the ninth hole prior to The Genesis Invitational 2025 at Torrey Pines Golf Course on February 12, 2025 in La Jolla, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) — Rory McIlroy and Donald Trump Jr. were seen walking together ahead of the Genesis Invitational this week at Torrey Pines in San Diego. (Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

“It was really good. I thought we had a good discussion,” McIlroy said. “I learned that he’s not a fan of the LIV format. I was like, but you’ve hosted their events. He was like, yeah, but it doesn’t mean that I like it. So I think he’s on the Tour’s side.”

McIlroy took last week off after his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which marked his first of the season and 27th of his career.

While it’s still unclear when the two leagues will come back together or what that will look like, McIlroy sounds very over the fight — even if it means having a very different opinion of the rival league, which is something he’s come to terms with. The way the sport is now, he said, is “unsustainable.”

“Because I look at what I made in 2019 before LIV came around and I look at what I made after LIV came around and it’s very different,” he said when asked about how he’s made peace with his new stance on LIV Golf. “Like, I don’t know what to say, I earn more money now than I did in 2019 and if LIV hadn’t come around, I don’t know if I would have been able to say that.”