Rory McIlroy backs DP World Tour allowing ex-LIV golfers back - ESPN

Rory McIlroy said he agrees with the DP World Tour's decision to allow former members to return next season because the LIV Golf League threatened to «destroy» the European tour before Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund pulled its funding in April.

Some golfers have criticized DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings for allowing former LIV Golf players like Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia to come back in 2027.

While LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil said his circuit's goal is now to «complete, not compete» with other tours if it moves forward with LIV 2.0, Kinnings delivered an ultimatum to golfers who want to compete on the DP World Tour: play on one but not both.

«I agree with everything that Guy said,» McIlroy told reporters Wednesday at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship. «They took players, they took sponsors, they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta [National Golf Club] saying they wanted to destroy the European tour. Yeah, I agree with everything. I think people that don't agree are probably very shortsighted.»

In an interview with The Scotsman on Tuesday, Kinnings said he must balance what's fair to golfers who remained loyal to the DP World Tour, while still protecting his tour from LIV Golf.

«We've got to protect that special culture that we have on the tour,» Kinnings said. «And you see it across the whole tour. That's why I'm so proud of what we have-it's like nowhere else in the world. But we also have to protect the tour against an entity who spent, so we are told, over $7 billion, with one of their ⁠aims being to 'destroy the DP World Tour.' I have heard that from so many different people they talked to, who I have known for over 30 years within the game and who I trust implicitly.

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