Rory McIlroy is perhaps the most critical voice among golfers in the open battle betweenhe PGA Tour and the appearance of Arab Super League (LIV Golf) and his multi-million dollar bet. However, the Northern Irishman admitted that the threat of the new circuit had pushed the PGA to forcefully modernize “an antiquated system” in a way that would benefit players on all the major circuits.
McIlroy made the reflections in his press conference before the The Players Championshipwhich he won in 2019. The comments came after the annual players’ meeting, followed by the announcement last week that in 2024 there will be eight tournaments with limited participation and no cuts.
Designated events have prizes of 20 million dollars, while The Players increased their purse to 25 million. McIlroy said “many” of the changes at the PGA were sparked by the threat from LIV Golf.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie. I think the emergence of LIV or a competitor to the PGA Tour has benefited everybody who plays elite professional golf. I think when you’ve been the biggest golf tour in the world for years . in the last 60 years, there hasn’t been much incentive to change,” McIlroy acknowledged.
“This has led to a lot of innovation on the PGA Tour, an outdated system is being overhauled to try to reflect where we are in the world in the 21st century with the media landscape. The PGA Tour is not just competing with LIV Golf or other sports. It’s competing with Instagram and TikTok and everything else that’s trying to take attention away from the PGA Tour as a product”, added the Northern Irishman, world number 3.
The No. 1 in the ranking, the Basque Jon Rahmessentially coinciding with McIlroy’s words on the subject.
“Without LIV Golf, this wouldn’t have happened. So to some extent, as I said before, we should be thankful that this threat has pushed the PGA Tour to change things. I think that’s what we need for players. So, yeah, thanks to LIV Golf, otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing any of this,” Rahm said.
Source: La Verdad
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