The rivalry between the PGA Tour and the LIV Golf Series continued on the DP World Tour, formerly the European Tour, and it was none other than Rory McIlroy who fired a shot this time around.
LIV Golf players will be allowed to tee it up at the BMW PGA Championship in England because their suspensions are on hold until a hearing in February, and the drama at Wentworth Club was seen from the jump.
Defending champion Billy Horschel didn’t mince words when asked on his feelings toward players from the Saudi-funded league participating in the BMW PGA Championship.
“There’s a mixed feeling out here,” Horschel said, as transcribed by Sky Sports. “There’s some guys that hate it; don’t think the LIV guys should be here. There are some guys that are sort of in the middle, and there are some guys that understand and feel that, ‘hey, these guys have helped build the DP World Tour and the European Tour, and been part of Ryder Cups and helped the European Tour be so successful in The Ryder Cup’, and they are okay with it.
“… It’s hypocritical because of what some of these guys have said this week when they said they wanted to play less golf. It’s pretty hypocritical to come over here and play outside LIV when your big thing was to spend more time with family and want to play less golf.”
McIlroy, who is teaming up with Tiger Woods to create more events for PGA players took a different approach on his thoughts on LIV players playing in at Wentworth Club. The four-time major champion and FedEx Cup winner was asked if there would be more incentive to win if he were going head-to-head against an LIV player.
“I mean, I’ll be trying to win a golf tournament regardless,” McIlroy told reporters, as transcribed by Rex Hoggard. “They are going to be pretty tired on Sunday; it will be the fourth day.”
For those who didn’t tune into Dustin Johnson’s big win at Boston or are unfamiliar with LIV Golf events, the key elements of the league are there are just three rounds with shotgun starts — meaning tee times occur simultaneously — and no cuts.
With that context, it was a pretty nice dig from McIlroy, who is the favorite at the BMW PGA Championship. How LIV players take the dig will likely be found out during the tour.
