{"id":1249714,"date":"2024-02-28T19:48:34","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T19:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-mcilroy-hints-there-is-chance-he-could-join-liv-golf\/"},"modified":"2024-02-29T11:56:25","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T11:56:25","slug":"rory-mcilroy-hints-there-is-chance-he-could-join-liv-golf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-mcilroy-hints-there-is-chance-he-could-join-liv-golf\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy hints there is chance he could join LIV Golf"},"content":{"rendered":"
Rory McIlroy has suggested there is a chance he could leave the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf.<\/p>\n
McIlroy took a strident position against the big-money Saudi venture, which tempted a host of top names with lavish paydays and disrupted the established order of the PGA and European Tours.<\/p>\n
But the world number two \u2013 who even claimed last summer that he would \u201crather retire\u201d than become a LIV rebel \u2013 has softened his stance in recent months as Europe Ryder Cup team-mates Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton have made the switch from the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n McIlroy\u2019s former agent Chubby Chandler has claimed the Northern Irishman could make a shock move to LIV Golf \u2013 and the four-time major champion did not completely dismiss the idea ahead of the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach Gardens.<\/p>\n Chandler put a potential switch at 10 per cent and, asked at a pre-tournament press conference whether he would put a percentage on him joining LIV Golf, McIlroy replied: \u201cSomewhere in the middle maybe. Who knows?<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s writing a book, so there is that. I spoke to Chubby, I might have seen him in the Middle East at the start of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cNever know. He might know a few things. Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n McIlroy began his 2024 campaign by finishing second to Tommy Fleetwood at the Dubai Invitational and then winning the Dubai Desert Classic for a record fourth time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But it has not been plain sailing for the 34-year-old since returning to the PGA Tour this month.<\/p>\n McIlroy finished tied 66th at the rain-ruined AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and had a share for 24th at the Genesis Invitational.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like Pebble, the weather disrupted it and the courses were super soft,\u201d said Florida resident McIlroy, who held off Tiger Woods at this event in 2012 to win and claim the world number one spot for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cI won the pro-am portion, so I guess it wasn\u2019t all bad.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then Riv (Riviera Country Club) was pretty good. I made a mess of 15 and 16 on the first day but apart from that, I felt like I played some pretty good golf.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like my game is in pretty good shape. You know, it\u2019s nice to stay at home this week and feel a little more I guess relaxed in the surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n On what he defines as a successful season, McIlroy, a 24-time PGA Tour winner, added: \u201cI guess it comes down to wins and season-long titles and major championships.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t sit here and say that the last 10 seasons haven\u2019t been successful because I haven\u2019t won a major.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time, I recognize that whenever all is said and done I\u2019m going to be judged on those tournaments a lot.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully among other things as well but, yeah, winning is always good. The more wins you can get the better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Northern Irishman has softened his stance on the breakaway Saudi venture in recent months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1249715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[9051],"class_list":["post-1249714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-pa-news"],"yoast_head":"\n