LIV Golf lawsuit makes controversy 'more personal' - McIlroy

Controversy swirling over the upstart LIV Golf series got "a little more personal" when 11 LIV rebels sued the US PGA Tour this week, Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy said Wednesday.

McIlroy and fellow US PGA Tour pro Justin Thomas both welcomed a judge's ruling that denied a request by three LIV Golf players for a temporary restraining order that would have allowed them to play in the St. Jude Championship this week, the first event of the US PGA Tour's season-ending playoffs.

The three players qualified for the playoffs were among 11 golfers who filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the US Tour challenging the indefinite suspensions imposed by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan upon those who played in any of the Saudi-backed LIV tour's first three events.

McIlroy, who has been a critic of the new series offering stunning $20 million purses for its 54-hole events as well as signing bonuses reportedly worth tens of millions for some stars, said he believed golfers had the right to choose the new tour -- but the US PGA Tour also had the right to exclude those who made that decision.

"Guys are going to make their own decisions that they feel is best for them and that's totally fine," McIlroy said after playing a pro-am round at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

"I don't begrudge anyone for going over to play LIV or taking guaranteed money.

"I think where the resentment comes from from the membership of this tour is the fact that they want to try to get their way back in here with no consequences, and anyone that's read the PGA Tour handbook or abided by the rules and regulations, that would feel very unfair to them."

As a PGA Tour board member, McIlroy has even-handedly fielded questions about LIV Golf -- spearheaded by