Rory McIlroy expresses doubts about LIV Golf’s future and discusses former players returning to the PGA Tour in a recent podcast.
In a podcast episode over 60 minutes long on the English channel ‘The Overlap’, released on Friday, Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy voiced skepticism about the long-term future of the LIV Golf league, which is financed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF). McIlroy discussed his fundamental stance on LIV Golf and explained why he has no personal connection to this league. He also addressed the possibility of former PGA Tour players returning.
The five-time major champion and one of the strongest critics of LIV Golf since its inception in 2022 speculated that the PIF might consider shutting down the newly-founded league altogether if it does not become profitable in the long run. McIlroy said: ‘I don’t know, but if LIV cannot excite viewers, and they invested so much money in this project without results, I don’t know how long they can sustain it.’
Although LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil announced in late October 2025 that the league had secured sponsor revenues of around half a billion euros in the past ten months, it remains unclear when profits might materialize. The newsletter ‘Money in Sport’ projected in May 2025 that the Saudi PIF’s investments in LIV Golf would grow to five billion US dollars by the end of 2025. In October 2025, it was also reported that the league’s UK branch had already recorded a total loss of 1.1 billion US dollars between its launch and the end of 2024, with 450 million US dollars in losses occurring solely in 2024.
McIlroy: ‘I Don’t Like What LIV Golf Has Done to Our Sport’
‘I don’t like what LIV Golf has done to our sport because it caused a massive division. I said last time on this podcast that I might have been a bit too quick to judge the guys who went there because not everyone is in the same situation as me,’ McIlroy said, adding: ‘If you’re offered twice the money for the same work, it’s kind of hard to say no.’
McIlroy believes LIV Golf has yet to gain lasting appeal among fans and viewers but acknowledged that the league has some positive elements. Calling himself a ‘traditionalist’, he suspected this mindset limited his perspective. He added, ‘They came in saying, ‘We’ll be different, we’ll be this, we’ll be that.’ Even the fact that they switched from 54 to 72