Rory McIlroy’s ideal vision for the reunification of men’s professional golf is to see the best players in the game play in at least twelve events together on a worldwide tour.
McIlroy was speaking ahead of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Often dubbed the ‘fifth major’ the Ponte Vedra field will be without US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, former Players champion Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson among others.
As negotiations between the PGA Tour, PIF and DP World Tour rumble on, almost two years since a framework agreement was agreed, McIlroy feels golf needs to have the best players playing together outside of the four majors if the sport is to remain relevant.
“I would say it’s more than four, my thing is for golf to stay where it is and be relevant, it needs to be worldwide, it’s a year-round calendar. It’s got to be once a month if not more. I think 12 times a year or maybe a smidge higher than that I think would be a good number,” said the 2019 Players champion.
“I think there’s an opportunity for it to be worldwide. Yeah, I feel like golf isn’t just played in America. It didn’t start in America. It’s played in a lot of other places in the world.
“Look, the main source of capital for professional golf is in America, so the reason that tournaments are primarily and the bigger tournaments are primarily here is because of corporate America and the dollars that it brings into the game to fund some of the biggest championships in the world.”
The DP World Tour and LIV Golf have a global schedule and McIlroy feels like the PGA Tour should tap into that market and elevate worldwide events back to former glories, like the Australian Open, with players from all three tours competing.
The four-time major winner is a global player while Billy Horschel has often ventured from the PGA Tour to play in DP World Tour events over the last few years.
“I think there is an opportunity to have some of the bigger tournaments outside of America. Like I’ve always been a worldwide player. I play all around the world. I start my year in the Middle East. I come over here. I go to the UK. After the FedExCup Playoffs I go back to Europe and play four or five events.
“Yeah, there’s an opportunity. I think we need bigger events in Australia. I think the Australian Open needs to be put up the Australian Open was always a very big tournament back in the day, and I think that could be one that could be elevated along with some others.
“But yeah, I think there’s certainly an opportunity there to be a little more global and worldwide.”
Paul McGinley suggested earlier this week that the LIV players should have unrestricted access to DP World Tour events as part of his vision for reunification.
DP World Tour involvement in negotiations with US President Donald Trump has been limited but McIlroy insists the old European Tour has not been forgotten in the peace talks.
“Look, the DP World Tour are part of this, so that’s the international tour. They’ve always been a part. The narrative has always been PGA TOUR and PIF, but the DP World Tour were in that framework agreement, too. That’s a part of it, as well.”
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