Rory McIlroy disagreed with Jon Rahm’s opinion that men’s professional golf is in a “golden age.”
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Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm don’t see eye to eye on the breakdown of men’s professional golf.
Both stars, playing in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic this week, recently gave their pro game a try as we begin the 2025 season with a possible PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger coming up.
Rahm admitted that he thought things would “move on” now, but the two-time winner remains optimistic about where the pro game stands.
“I think we’re living in a golden age right now in golf where the opportunities are endless,” Rahm said Tuesday in Dubai. “The big tour in Europe and around the world and the big tour, the PGA Tour, and you have another big product with LIV, and now you’re even adding TGL. When it comes to golf, the opportunities are here.
“I think that with the right concepts you can end up with a product, and I’ve been saying this can put golf on another level in the sport. I still hope that that can happen.”
On Wednesday, McIlroy responded to Rahm’s claim of a “golden era” with a realistic view. The four-time major league winner understands Rahm’s point but thinks the game’s current problems far outweigh talent and growth.
“A lot of yellow-tinged glasses if you ask me,” McIlroy said Wednesday of Rahm’s comments.
McIlroy added that he hopes the upheaval of the past few years will lead to more opportunities to grow the professional game around the world. But McIlroy can’t look past the broken nature of the pro game. In McIlroy’s eyes, the game has to come together for a good idea.
“There are some amazing players, of course,” McIlroy said. “There are amazing players playing on all different tours and parts of the world and everything, which is great. But at the same time, it is very fragmented and very divided.
“I would share his hope if the game wasn’t as divided and scattered as it was. Maybe we will get to that point in the near future, and if we do, I would say, I have that hope.”
Appropriately, McIlroy was asked moments later about fellow Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin, whom McIlroy considers a friend and protege, potentially jumping to LIV Golf to join Rahm’s team.
McIlroy gave a three-minute reply in which his disappointment was evident.
“I really like Tom as a person, as a player,” McIlroy said. “I think he has a lot of talent. Look, I said to him, if I were in your shoes, I would choose something different than what you are thinking of choosing.
“I think what’s possible is that he sacrifices himself and gives up on reaching the majors, a possible Ryder Cup spot, it depends on, you know, how he’s going to play. … Look, I don’t think it’s official yet. But if I was in his position and I had his ability, what I think is I used to be the one, I wouldn’t have made that decision. But I’m not in his shoes. All I can do is make decisions for him my opinion.”
McIlroy hopes that McKibbin, who has yet to make a public decision, will turn down an offer to move to LIV and continue his golf ascent on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. In McIlroy’s opinion, the move to LIV has some serious downsides for a rising star like McKibbin.
“It would be a little disappointing if it happened, but again, it’s not – I made it clear: I’m not going to stand in your way if you need to make a decision that you feel you have to make for yourself,” said McIlroy.
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