McIlroy on DP World taking ex-members back: 'There has to be a bit of a reset' — SkimNews
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- Rory McIlroy said he backed the DP World Tour’s decision to let former members return next season, citing LIV Golf’s threat to “destroy” the European tour before the PIF pulled funding in April.
- Guy Kinnings, criticized by some golfers over allowing Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia to return in 2027, said golfers seeking a DP World Tour berth must choose that tour or LIV Golf, not both, while balancing fairness to loyal players and protecting the tour’s culture.
- Scott O'Neil said LIV Golf’s goal is now to “complete, not compete” with other tours if LIV 2.0 moves forward with fewer tournaments and smaller purses.
- PGA Tour provided more than $77 million to the DP World Tour to boost 2025 prize money and counter LIV Golf, while the DP World Tour works to extend their partnership.
- DP World Tour was weighing whether to adjust prize money, reduce the number of tournaments or focus more on the Rolex Series and national opens, with Kinnings saying the PIF was no longer an existential threat.
- LIV Golf and the PIF created what McIlroy called a “false economy,” luring PGA Tour members in 2025 with guaranteed contracts worth more than $100 million and purses of $30 million.
- Rory McIlroy said LIV Golf gave players leverage and helped golfers make more money, but argued that leverage was bad for the game’s overall health and that sustainable business practices were needed for tours to exist in 50 years.
Why it matters: For former LIV players, the 2027 policy creates a route back to the DP World Tour, but Kinnings’s play-one-tour-or-neither rule makes that route exclusive. For golfers who stayed loyal, McIlroy’s sustainability argument links readmission to the tour’s need for balance after more than $77 million in 2025 PGA Tour support.
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