Rory McIlroy referenced what he perceived as a shifting mindset among former LIV Golf members when asked about Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour recently reinstated Koepka through a new Returning Member Program that offers a window for select players to return. The five-time major champion will compete this week in the Farmers Insurance Open.
“I think it says more about Brooks than anything else,” McIlroy told reporters Monday night after their TGL match. “He obviously is a very competitive person and wants to compete at the highest level. I think he made the decision that he thought competing at the highest level meant coming back to the PGA Tour.
“You’ve seen others say this recently; Patrick Reed said it in Dubai last week. It seems like some of those guys are maybe starting to realize that they’re not getting everything that they wanted out of going over there, and that’s obviously a great thing for the PGA Tour.”
Reed, who is ranked No. 29 in the world, completed an impressive victory at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday. However, he admitted his LIV Golf status remains in the air with the start of the season two weeks away.
“We’re still finalizing the contract,” Reed, 35, said Sunday. “We’re not complete on that yet. It’s one of those things that I don’t like to talk business and stuff while I’m playing, and so it’s like Monday through Wednesday is the only time to really talk about it.”
McIlroy, who is ranked second in the world, also was asked about the rumored changes to the PGA Tour, including a shortening of the schedule.
“We’ve all heard the rumblings without really knowing what’s been said in those rooms and what they’re thinking of,” he said, “but obviously I think we’ve all heard starting maybe after the Super Bowl and then going through the end of August before the football season starts again. That seems very condensed to me. Seems like a lot of golf in a pretty short amount of time, depending on how many events they want to play.
“But that does open up an opportunity for the other five months of the year around the world. I’m a DP World Tour member, a very proud one, and I think that opens an opportunity for them to showcase some of their biggest events in that time of the year.”
McIlroy, 36, owns a career grand slam among his 29 PGA Tour victories.
–Field Level Media
