Rory McIlroy makes admission about LIV Golf League: "I just didn't see it!"

Rory McIlroy has admitted he was wrong about the LIV Golf League but claimed he doesn't regret anything he said about the breakaway tour.

Ben Smith

16 Feb 2023

Rory McIlroy makes admission about LIV Golf League: "I just didn't see it!"

You might remember it was approximately one year ago Rory McIlroy claimed the LIV Golf League was "dead in the water" as he described Phil Mickelson as "naive, selfish, egotistical and arrogant".

A number of PGA Tour stars assembled in front of the media at Riviera to explain why they wouldn't be joining the "Saudi Golf League".

McIlroy joked that Greg Norman would have have to tee it up to fill their fields. The four-time major champion was wrong.

And he knows it.

Things have changed a lot over the past 12 months. LIV Golf will soon begin their second $405m campaign with an expanded 14-event schedule.

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Adam Scott explained this week he believes golf is still in "turbulent waters" as we are yet to see how things shake out.

But in the end, Scott - who has been elected chairman of the PGA's Players Advisory Council - said the future of the sport is in good hands.

As for McIlroy, he conceded before Tiger Woods' Genesis Invitational that he took a lot of what people said at face value.

In comments to GOLF's Dylan Dethier, McIlroy said he "just didn't see it".

Rory McIlroy makes admission about LIV Golf League:

Does McIlroy have any regrets?

He said:

"No, not at all. I can admit when I'm wrong, and jeez, I've been wrong a ton about a lot of stuff. But I just didn't see it. I just took some of the comments at face value and was like, okay, well, it doesn't seem like people are interested."

McIlroy continued:

"Whenever the LIV guys played in like, Boston and Chicago I had a moment of like — 'Oh s—. People are turning up and might actually sort of be into this'. But I think it was more a novelty thing than anything else, and now the novelty has worn off."

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McIlroy pointed to the players' meeting in Delaware where things really took a turn.

It was during this period that McIlroy was filmed in the Netflix documentary Full Swing talking about the announcement of the elevated events.

The news reportedly blindsided some players as they have to participate in all of them - apart from one - if they want to collect bonus money from the Player Impact Program.

"We've all just gotten a little soft," McIlroy was filmed saying as he stated he was willing to play in these events and so should others.

McIlroy continued to Dethier:

"I'm also much more confident about where things are. With all the stuff that went on [at a Tour player meeting] in Delaware and the changes we’ve made, I think we're trending in a much better direction. Look, competition is a good thing.

"It probably caused the PGA Tour to make changes a little quicker than they usually do. And ultimately that's a good thing for everyone that plays out here."

McIlroy was then asked if he's regretted anything he's ever said.

He said:

"Not really. Because I'm pretty good at admitting when I'm wrong, and being like, look, hand up. I was wrong, or maybe uninformed or misguided or whatever."

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