Rory McIlroy says PGA Tour players who joined the LIV Golf Invitational Series took the 'easy way out'

BROOKLINE, Mass. — Rory McIlroy said he is disappointed that some PGA Tour players took the «easy way out» and joined the rival LIV Golf Invitational Series, and in how six-time major champion Phil Mickelson helped create the new circuit.

McIlroy, speaking at a news conference Tuesday ahead of this week's U.S. Open at The Country Club, said he understands why aging players were tempted by millions of dollars in signing bonuses from LIV Golf, but he believes younger ones who left made a shortsighted decision by defecting.

«I understand. Yes, because a lot of these guys are in their late 40s,» McIlroy said. «In Phil's case, early 50s. Yeah, I think everyone in this room would say to themselves that their best days are behind them. That's why I don't understand for the guys that are a similar age to me going because I would like to believe that my best days are still ahead of me, and I think theirs are too. So that's where it feels like you're taking the easy way out.»

While McIlroy, 33, said he didn't lose respect for Mickelson as a player, noting that he became golf's oldest major champion at age 50 at the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, he didn't like how Mickelson handled his defection to LIV Golf.

«He won a major championship 13 months ago, probably one of the crowning achievements of his career and one of the most impressive achievements in the history of the game of golf,» McIlroy said. «As a golfer, I have the utmost respect for Phil. I've been disappointed with how he went about what he has done, but I think he has come back and shown some remorse about how he has handled some things, so I think he has learned from that.

Mickelson is competing in the U.S. Open this week, his first start in the United States