Alan Shipnuck has claimed that Rory McIlroy was left heartbroken after the PGA Tour announced that it was going to merge with the Saudi Public Investment fund earlier this year.
Shipnuck details the journey of the breakaway LIV Golf tour in his new book ‘LIV and Let Die’ with McIlroy at the heart of proceedings who went on to become the face of the PGA Tour in opposition to LIV. The new book details McIlroy’s shock and disappointment at the news of the merger.
“All the PGA Tour loyalists value and respect Rory for his advocacy,” Shipnuck told The Times.
“He put himself on the front line, but on the LIV side there is a lot of bitterness because Rory made it intensely personal. He became kind of a leading troll and took a lot of shots at individuals.
“There is a great divide on how Rory is viewed. I respect Rory because he was willing to say out loud what a lot of people were thinking and he showed a lot of courage and conviction. Unfortunately for Rory, he is also an idealist and he thought he was fighting for something larger than himself.
“Then the money guys came in — Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy (PGA Tour directors) — and they completely sold him out and kind of broke his heart. Rory learnt a hard lesson about the real world. Idealism only goes so far and money always wins.
“Jimmy Dunne is a friend and adviser to Rory going back a long way. He got Rory’s dad into Seminole Golf Club, one of the inner sanctums of golf — Gerry McIlroy was a former bartender and that does not fit the normal Seminole member profile. That was all Jimmy Dunne and yet it was also Jimmy Dunne, in secret, who cold-bloodedly crushed Rory’s hopes and dreams with this (framework) deal.”
Earlier this month an excerpt of Shipnuck’s new book was released on social media which featured a LIV player taking a swipe at McIlroy for his stance on the Saudi backed tour.
The anonymous player said: “F**k Rory. I’m so sick of hearing how he’s some kind of hero who is saving golf. He’s bought and paid for like everybody else. It’s just his money is coming from the other side.
“Rory’s fighting so hard for the (PGA) Tour because he wants to preserve his income streams, not because he cares about the Tour itself. That he is being held up as some sort of savior on Twitter and by all the fanboys with their s****y podcasts tells you how little people really understand what’s going on.”
This excerpt drew criticism from other players online including Justin Thomas and Shipnuck described the exchange as “interesting and enlightening.”
We are in the most volatile moment in the history of professional golf, and there’s been two years of finger-pointing and name-calling, and his critique is I’m not writing more positive stories. I didn’t create this situation, I’m just recording it. These pro golfers want money and fame but don’t want the scrutiny.
“Players become so voracious and if anybody else tries to get a few crumbs you’re a bad guy. I have four kids to put through college and I write books for a living. I don’t think I need to apologize for that to Justin Thomas. It’s never enough for these players. It’s a bottomless pit.”
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