Rory McIlroy tees off on the second hole during the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, in Dubai, on Nov. 17, 2023.Andrew Redington/Getty Images
As the PGA Tour and LIV Golf continue to negotiate the sport’s future, Rory McIlroy says he has a “dream scenario” with a global approach, better tapping into markets such as Australia, South Africa and Japan.
“Going forward, if everything is on the table, venues have to be a big part of the consideration,” he said in an interview Tuesday with Golf Digest in Dubai. “We need to make sure the courses are worthy of the players who are going to be competing. 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,” he continued. “Investors always want to make a return on their money. Revenues at the PGA Tour right now are about US$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 PGA Tour is continuing negotiations to finalize an alliance with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which bankrolls LIV. The deadline was Dec. 31 before it was extended. The PGA Tour revealed a so-called framework agreement to merge interests with the PIF in a surprise announcement on June 6.
McIlroy has a new perspective after his previous criticism of the 2-year-old LIV Golf, which has the financial resources to successfully recruit many of the PGA Tour’s established player. He envisions adding the Australian Open and the South African Open as a way of improving a new global circuit.