Rory McIlroy slams LIV Golf as he breaks silence over Brooks Koepka's PGA Tour return

Rory McIlroy has provided a damning verdict of LIV Golf and their lack of marquee signings for 2026, while at the same time revelling in delight at Brooks Koepka being reinstated as a member of the PGA Tour.

McIlroy, 36, broke his silence on Koepka's return to the PGA Tour and cast further doubt over LIV Golf's long-term stability during an interview with Telegraph Sport's James Corrigan at this week's Dubai Invtiational on the DP World Tour. 

Koepka, 35, returned to the PGA Tour on Monday just three weeks after quitting the LIV Golf League.

The five-time major champion was the captain of Smash GC and won five times individually on the Saudi-bankrolled circuit. 

But despite his success on LIV Golf, he was clearly not happy - something Rickie Fowler discussed during TGL on Tuesday. 

Koepka was able to return to the PGA Tour this month via a new Returning Membership policy devised by newly-appointed CEO Brian Rolapp. 

The former World No.1 will face significant consequence on the PGA Tour in terms of passing up player equity until the end of 2030 and he will also miss out on any FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026, while also having to make a $5m charitable donation.

Koepka will also start the season out of the Signature Events, but he will have the chance to play his way in should he play well. 

He will make his official comeback to the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open in two weeks time, and he'll also compete in his favoured WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale the following week, an event he has won twice before in 2015 and 2021. 

Koepka's return has received mixed feedback from PGA Tour players so far. 

A number of them at this week's Sony Open are said to have been frustrated by the decision to allow Koepka back so quickly and easily. 

Former US Open champion Wyndham Clark also admits he's "very torn" about the situation. 

Tiger Woods, however, is certainly of the mindset it's an "incredible" move by the PGA Tour, one that will appeal to its fans who "want to see the best against the best". 

Fowler echoed those sentiments at TGL on Tuesday, while also revealing Koepka had been wanting to leave LIV for a while. 

Rory McIlroy delighted by Brooks Koepka's PGA Tour return, as he slams LIV Golf in process

McIlroy is very much in the same boat as Woods and Fowler, telling Telegraph Sport that Koepka is "back where he belongs." 

The Northern Irishman, who regularly plays golf with Koepka in Florida, told the publication: “Brooks is one of the best players in the world and anything that makes the traditional tours stronger is a good thing in my book.”

Only McIlroy didn't stop there when discussing Koepka's return to the PGA Tour. 

Far from it. 

He went further by claiming LIV Golf no longer poses the threat it once did, especially after seeing the league's latest signings for 2026. 

Despite being linked with a number of star names on the PGA Tour, the breakaway league failed in its pursuit. 

Ben An was arguably LIV's biggest new signing, but even he doesn't have a PGA Tour title to his name and sits 99th in the world. 

Other players to join the league this window include Laurie Canter, Victor Perez, Thomas Detry and Elvis Smylie.

In the eyes of McIlroy, those signings do little to strike fear into the PGA Tour. 

"It's not as if they made any huge signings this year, is it?" an honest McIlroy told Telegraph Sport at Dubai Creek Resort. 

"They haven't signed anyone who moves the needle and I don't think they will."

The PGA Tour's Returning Membership policy has also opened the door for Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith to return, but they have been set a deadline of 2 February should they wish to follow in Koepka's footsteps. 

All three have turned down the offer so far. Smith and Rahm seem the most confident they'll stick around on LIV Golf, at least compared to DeChambeau who looked and sounded remarkably downbeat when discussing his current situation with reporters this week. 

The Crushers captain then further escalated the situation when posing a photo of him shrugging his shoulders by an exit sign asking his followers "what would you do?"

DeChambeau even teased the idea of possibly just playing YouTube Golf in around the four majors in the future. 

It's understood the two-time US Open champion is pushing for a $500m fee to extend his deal with LIV Golf past the end of his current contract in 2026. 

But even should that happen, McIlroy isn't bothered either way. 

"I mean, they could re-sign Bryson for hundreds of millions of dollars, but even if they do, it doesn’t change their product, does it?" he added.

"They’ll just be paying for the exact same thing, and they’ve lost Brooks, so they’ll be paying out all this money and..." 

McIlroy concluded his interview by confirming the PGA Tour is very much the place to be for the best players heading into the 2026 season. 

"As ever time will tell with all this, but I'm so happy to be with the PGA Tour and I like where everything's going and I like where the game is."