McIlroy — LIV defectors shouldn’t be punished if seeking tour return

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Following the recent departures of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to the LIV Golf League, Rory McIlroy said Tuesday he is “done trying to change people's minds” about staying on the tour of the PGA and that he now believes that there should be no punishment. for his defectors.

“If people are still eligible on this tour and they want to come back and play or you want to try to do something, let them come back,” said McIlroy, who has taken a much less critical stance against LIV in recent months after being one of the PGA Tour's most vocal stalwarts. “I think it's hard to punish people. I don't think there should be any punishment.”

These comments differ from what McIlroy said in June, when he noted that “the people who left the PGA Tour (for LIV) have irreparably harmed this tour” and therefore should have “consequences for their actions.”

McIlroy resigned from the PGA Tour's political council in November. This week, he prepares to make his PGA Tour debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am amid an expected deal between the tour, investment consortium Strategic Sports Group and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia looms over the future of professional golf.

The PGA Tour is close to finalizing a deal with SSG – a consortium of billionaire team owners including Tom Werner and John Henry (Boston Red Sox), Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons) and Wyc Grousbeck (Boston Celtics) – that would infuse at least $3 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises. The PGA Tour would then focus on finalizing its deal with the PIF and DP World Tour, sources told ESPN's Mark Schlabach.

“I feel like this thing could have been done months ago,” said McIlroy, who added that he was no longer involved in any decision-making and did not regret resigning from his position on the political council. “Should I never have been on the board? I think so…I just didn't feel like I could influence things the way I wanted to and I had the It felt like I was banging my head against the wall and it was time for me to walk away and focus on my own business.

Although no deal has been signed yet, LIV continues to poach players from the PGA Tour, the latest being Hatton on Tuesday ahead of LIV's season opener in Mexico later this week. Hatton, ranked 16th in the world, was on the course at Pebble Beach before retiring and was also part of McIlroy's team (Boston Common) on the new tech-infused TGL, which features only PGA Tour players.

McIlroy said he spoke at length with Hatton on Sunday and understood his decision to leave for LIV given the life-changing financial compensation he continues to offer players. (London's Telegraph reported Monday that Hatton received a deal worth about $60 million after officials belatedly pushed him to sign it.)

However, McIlroy said his approach to such conversations with other players has changed from a year ago, as has his opinion on whether those who return should be punished.

“We are potentially close to doing a deal with PIF, which owns the vast majority of LIV, and we hope to see things get back into place here at some point,” McIlroy said. “Obviously, I changed my tune on [punishments] because I see where golf is at and I see that having a diminished PGA Tour and a diminished LIV Tour or whatever is bad for both parties.

Asked if winning a marquee event at Pebble this week or the upcoming Genesis Invitational at Rivera Country Club was “devalued” by the absence of players like Rahm and Hatton, McIlroy said it would be.

“I would love to win here and take a trophy on the 18th green and know that I beat all the best players in the world,” McIlroy said. “The sooner we can all get back together and start playing and start having the strongest field possible, I think that's great for golf.”