Tour pro explains why he disagrees with Rory McIlroy's LIV Golf "value" comments

English tour pro Eddie Pepperell says he disagrees with Rory McIlroy's assertion that LIV Golf players may not have brought value to their own tour. 

McIlroy warned players from the renegade league last week they may face "a tough road back" to the PGA Tour if LIV Golf doesn't survive. 

The Masters champion also questioned if they brought value to their own tour when he was asked which players he would like to see cross back over in the scenario LIV ceases to exist. 

McIlroy, 37, was clearly referring to major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith.

His comments drew criticism from European Ryder Cup legend Lee Westwood, who argued that McIlroy's remarks were "typical" of him and "weren't well thought out."

Pepperell told the latest edition of The Chipping Forecast he disagrees with McIlroy as well. 

"I think the players do have value," he said. 

"To me, the reason LIV has failed is not because the players don't have value, it's because irrespective of the players that were playing on LIV, it was never going to work. 

"Why? Because the product, and the format, and the optics around the whole thing is terrible, and that goes back to [English television presenter] Richard Osman's point when we had him on [the podcast] two or three years ago, and there's a guy who knows about formatting the TV shows. 

"That's the issue, and so I disagree with Rory's views there on the players. 

"I think Jon Rahm has tremendous value in the environment of the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, and LIV has failed fundamentally to operate in the way that we find most people find valuable. 

"That's not to say, however, that it hasn't been popular in some parts of the world that they've travelled to, and the events, of course, themselves have been great, and how many people, however, are attending these events because they get to see Peggy Gou, or the Chainsmokers, or some big musical act, which of course is not going to be a part of LIV 2.0."

Pepperell has been one of LIV Golf's most vocal critics since its inception. 

Before he left social media, he was involved in several Twitter spats - including with Westwood - about LIV and its impact on the men's game.

He was particularly scathing about the older European players who jumped ship, sacrificing potential future leadership roles in the Ryder Cup.

Back in October 2022, Pepperell tore into the cohort of players if their decision to join LIV ultimately led to the demise of the DP World Tour. 

He previously told The Times: "If this happens and we look back and conclude that LIV Golf put the knife into the back of the European Tour, how are Westwood and Poulter and Sergio (Garcia) and these guys going to feel about themselves knowing they have been complicit?

"I rooted for Sergio, the player. It’s hard to root for Sergio, the man. The way these guys speak, quite gleefully, about what they’ve done, well, it’s just disappointing."

LIV Golf as we know it is kaput and it remains to be seen whether it will survive in 2027. 

Their CEO, Scott O'Neil, says they have agreed terms with a new investor to take the league forward onto its next chapter without funding from Saudi Arabia. 

He hopes the transaction will be finalised next month but it's understood that player buy-in is critical to getting the deal over the line. 

Several players are mulling whether to commit to LIV Golf 2.0. 

Poulter revealed on Monday he's "genuinely undecided" over which path to take. 

Pepperell reiterated his disappointment in the European Ryder Cup legends who joined LIV. 

"Well, I think they've incurred massive reputational damage," he said. 

"And it is actually that cohort of players that I'm most disappointed in, because to me, they were most opportunistic. 

"And I would add Phil Mickelson into that. 

"And I think you do have to look at the personalities and the characters involved at the very forefront of LIV in the initial phase, led by Phil Mickelson, of course, spearheaded by Greg Norman, funded by [PIF governor] Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who had his own pet project vision of what LIV Golf could become. 

"And I think all of them to a person have shown, unfortunately, real personality and character flaws. So that's my view. 

"That takes nothing away from the respect I have for them in terms of what they've achieved in their careers whatsoever. 

"I admire them greatly in terms of what they've been able to achieve on the fairways and on the greens. 

"But they had an opportunity to take a different stand, and they didn't. 

"And that was always where, you know, I was most frustrated and disappointed, ultimately. 

"But there will be people disappointed in me for walking off [last week at the Nexo Championship]. 

"So we're in a world of disappointment at the moment."