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Where’s the value? McIlroy, Scheffler take different approach to possible LIV player return
ST. LOUIS — What would it look like? When could it happen?
While plenty of questions linger about the fate of LIV Golf players as the league faces an uncertain future, Rory McIlroy sidestepped the possibility of a reunion on the PGA Tour with an interrogation of his own.
“I would argue, have they brought value to LIV?” the reigning back-to-back Masters winner posited to a room full of reporters ahead of the Tour’s BMW Championship.
McIlroy, who finished 66th in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, was asked specifically if adding Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm could help increase the Tour’s next media rights deal — with the selling point that all of the world’s best players are under one golf umbrella.
“Eventually, yeah, maybe,” McIlroy replied.
He added that any LIV player is “not going to be welcomed back straight away,” citing the Returning Member Program that Brooks Koepka took advantage of when offered in January. DeChambeau and Rahm, along with Cam Smith, were offered the package but did not take it.
“That has sort of come and gone. And I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward, if they do decide to come back, isn’t going to be as good as the one that Brooks got,” McIlroy said. “I would say it’s going to be a tough, tough road back.”
No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who is a significant favorite over McIlroy and the rest of the field at Bellerive after his triumph last week at TPC Southwind, was prodded with the same line of LIV questioning after Wednesday’s pro-am in St. Louis.
Scheffler championed the Tour’s depth of talent as being “unmatched” and pointed towards penalties — most likely financial ones — as the most effective way to build a bridge back from LIV to the PGA Tour.
“What those are, I’ll let [PGA Tour CEO Brian] Rolapp and all those guys figure it out,” Scheffler said. “We have great leadership within the Tour now. But I think having those guys come back and competing, with whatever happens with LIV, whether those guys want to leave [LIV], you got to ask them.”
Scheffler did offer a bit of a different perspective when considering the value added — if not directly toward the PGA Tour, then for his own competitive spirit.
“When you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf, there’s definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the Tour — and guys that I love competing against as well,” Scheffler said. “There’s certainly some guys on that tour that can compete out here and I look forward to the chance to compete with them more often.”
Other than at majors, Scheffler has been denied that opportunity since the previously Saudi-funded golf league was incepted in 2022.
He believes what’s coming in 2028 for the PGA Tour will help offset some of that loss.
“Making things a bit simpler in terms of who is going to be at what tournament at what time — golf has always been a difficult game to rank when you’re not playing head-to-head,” he said about the newly-formed Championship Series. “Getting the best players playing head-to-head more often than not, in a proper golf tournament, I think is the best way to do things.”
No satisfaction
Despite those internal changes and the Tour’s newly-formed competitive model, McIlroy denied taking a victory lap on Wednesday.
“I feel like I’ve kept my position consistent that LIV has never been a good thing for the game,” he said. “So, whatever 2.0 looks like, if it even happens, you know, they say they’re trying to be more collaborative and all that. But this is the best platform for the top professional golfers in the world. … I don’t take any personal satisfaction of people, like, losing jobs. Like, that doesn’t seem right. I’ve always felt like this is the best place to play professional golf. And I’m pretty sure if the PGA Tour were handed $6 billion it would have done a better job with it.”
When pressed what he would like to see the PGA Tour do with its own $1.5 billion coffers from Strategic Sports Group, McIlroy offered taking a bigger ownership stake in professional and recreational golf.
In his eyes, creating such a model would help the Tour offset any possible losses in media revenue where “other sports are really just fighting for the scraps that the NFL leave.”
“In terms of like growing the enterprise value of the business — media rights and sponsorships,” McIlroy explained. “Yes, sponsors are going to step up and pay for these Championship Series events, but that money’s going straight back to the tournaments and, honestly, the players’ pockets. But to actually grow the business and grow the enterprise value, they just need to, they need to own more of the game on both sides, professional and recreational.”
Veteran opinion
Adam Scott, a member of the Tour’s Future Competition Committee, offered a blended perspective on the LIV issue.
The 46-year-old emphasized that a large part of the discussion centered on whether or not LIV players could leave the league or would want to.
“Whether there’s LIV going on, whether they’re playing or not playing … I think there will be opportunities to reintegrate, if guys choose to not participate in LIV going forward,” Scott said.
Scott was also asked his thoughts on a scenario in which LIV players wanted back on Tour. Would the punishment need to be more punitive than what Brooks Koepka received, which included a $5 million charitable contribution and playing restrictions?
“The PGA Tour needs to protect its own membership, but I think it also knows that there needs to be pathways,” Scott said, “so it will be fair.”