Rory McIlroy questions PGA Tour schedule plans and admits the old schedule was ‘good’ before the arrival of LIV Golf | Golf News
Rory McIlroy has questioned the new proposed changes to the PGA Tour system and admits the old system was ‘pretty good’ before LIV Golf’s appearance in the men’s game.
The PGA Tour continues to work on a proposed new schedule, with further details expected to be announced later this month ahead of its 2028 launch, which would include two “tracks” of tournaments with promotion and relegation in a two-tier system.
Following single events would raise prize purses and stronger fields, effectively the increased number of Signature Events first introduced to the PGA Tour schedule in response to the emergence of LIV Golf.
The future of LIV Golf remains uncertain after the Saudi Arabian Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed they will stop sponsoring the league after this season, with McIlroy admitting there is a new appreciation for the previous PGA Tour calendar.
“I think, like them [PGA Tour] I’ve done all this work, you’re starting to see the way the PGA Tour was before LIV came along was really good,” McIlroy said at a press conference before the US Open. live on Sky Sports. “It was a beautiful building and everything worked very well.
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Rory McIlroy shares his thoughts on whether there will be a third consecutive victory for the European player in the men’s majors this year.
“LIV created this false economy where we had to raise prize money and we had to cut stadiums and try to sponsor top players and all these things, which I think had to happen because it was the only way to retain talent at the time.
“Now that LIV seems less dangerous, I think the old ways of the PGA Tour weren’t so bad.”
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PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp spoke to The Players about the biggest possible changes to the PGA Tour, including promotions and demotions.
There is no certainty as to which events will fall into the second track of the PGA Tour Tournaments, although it is expected that there will be less chance of players moving between the two divisions during the season.
The PGA Tour has increased prize money at many of its events in recent years to try to prevent players from defecting to LIV Golf, with McIlroy warning that some iconic events could be adversely affected by the changes.
“I think, most recently, an event like last week, the Canadian Open, could have gone down one of those two tracks. [events]McIlroy added. “The second route is the glorious Korn Ferry [Tour] event. That’s what the second track is going to be, so I don’t think the Canadian Open should be one of those.
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Highlights from the RBC Canadian Open, where Bud Cauley won the PGA Tour title
“I just think there will be some events that could lose their status if the sponsor doesn’t raise $30m (£22m), so that’s a difficult thing.
“But I’m not in those rooms. I’m playing my show and I’ll continue to play my show, which is getting less and less as the years go by.”
Who will win the US Open? Watch all week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or broadcasting without a contract.
