Rory McIlroy condemns LIV Golf for 'ripping the game apart' after extraordinary Tour Championship victory

By Patrick Snell and Issy Ronald, CNN

Updated 1008 GMT (1808 HKT) August 29, 2022

McIlroy is currently the world No. 4.

(CNN)In the months since the establishment of the controversial Saudi-backedLIV Golf Invitational Series, men's golf has divided itself into two rival camps — those who form a part of LIV Golf and those still party to the PGA Tour.

«What it's done to the world of men's professional golf is ripped it apart, which is unfortunate,» four-time major winner Rory McIlroy told CNN Sport's Patrick Snell following his extraordinary Tour Championship victory on Sunday.«I think there are ways to mend that and bring it back together. But with everything else that's going on right now, I don't see that happening anytime in the future.»Before the BMW Championship two weeks ago, McIlroy participated in a meeting of top PGA players to discuss the threat of the breakaway LIV Golf series which is funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) — a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and the man who a US intelligence report named as responsible for approving the operation that led to the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Bin Salman has denied involvement in Khashoggi's murder.«Being right in the middle of things has been tough at times and it's probably taken time away from the two things that are most important to me which are family and golf,» McIlroy admitted of his role as unofficial spokesperson for the PGA Tour players.Read More«But there's certain times where things just need to be done and you have to put yourself out there to stand up for what you believe in. And I feel like that's what I've done this year and I'll continue to keep doing that, but at