Rory McIlroy: Emergence of LIV has benefited elite golf

World number three Rory McIlroy admits the emergence of the LIV Golf series has forced change in the "antiquated" existing system and dragged the PGA Tour into the 21st century.

The Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway venture was able to lure a host of top names away from the regular circuit with multi-million dollar deals, huge prize funds and no-cut events.

After months of wrangling and discussion, the PGA Tour - in consultation with its top players - has come up with a new schedule for next year which will include eight designated events which will have fields between 70 to 80 players and no cuts.

Prize money has also increased as a result of the competition and, while the new plans have received a mixed response from the rank-and-file players, McIlroy said the improvements were necessary.

"I'm not going to sit here and lie; I think the emergence of LIV, or the emergence of a competitor to the PGA Tour, has benefited everyone that plays elite professional golf," he said.

"I think when you've been the biggest golf league in the biggest market in the world for the last 60 years, there's not a lot of incentive to innovate.

"This (LIV) has caused a ton of innovation at the PGA Tour and what was quite, I would say, an antiquated system is being revamped to try to mirror where we're at in the world in the 21st century with the media landscape.

"The PGA Tour isn't just competing with LIV Golf or other sports. It's competing with Instagram and TikTok and everything else that's trying to take eyeballs away from the PGA Tour as a product.

"So, yeah, you know, LIV coming along has definitely had a massive impact on the game but I think everyone who's a professional golfer is going to benefit from it going forward."

The Northern Irishman was