Rumours of the world number two making what would be a devastating move to LIV were whispered at the Masters and dismissed as “rubbish” by people close to the four-time major champion, who said he didn’t notice that LIV Golf Commissioner Greg Norman was following his group last Thursday.
“I did not,” McIlroy said when asked if he’d noticed the Australian. “Didn’t see him.”
McIlroy did not indicate he was wavering on his commitment to the PGA after his disappointing Masters performance.
Asked at Augusta National if he’d consider scaling back his hectic playing schedule after playing seven events before the Masters, he said: “No, the next two weeks I’m playing Hilton Head, I’m playing New Orleans. I’ll take a week off, playing Quail Hollow, play the PGA, take another week off, then play another four in a row.”
He then added sarcastically, given his mediocre form: “Loving golf at the moment. Loving it.”
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“He doesn’t need £750m but it’s odd what he’s done and I’m sure it’s a possibility. If he does it or not, I don’t know, but if Rahm can do it, most guys can do it.”
McIlroy appeared to be speaking with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek when asked about Chandler’s comments a few days later.
“You never know, he might know a few things, who knows?” he said ahead of the Cognizant Classic.
Asked whether there was a good chance or a 10 per cent, he replied: “Somewhere in the middle maybe, who knows?”
The Northern Irish star has consistently called for an end to division in the game, albeit softening his criticism of players who’ve made the move to LIV Golf following the signings of Ryder Cup teammates Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton last year.
The Co Down man famously said last July: “If LIV Golf was the last place on Earth to play golf, I would retire. That’s how I feel about it.”
He admitted he felt blindsided by Jay Monahan when the framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s PIF was announced on June 6 last year and called for the creation of a Champions League style World Tour.
“It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens,” he said at the RBC Canadian Open that week.
“Again, removing myself from the situation, I see how this is better for the game of golf. There’s no denying that.”
He has a good relationship with PIF governor Yasir Al-Ramayyan and hopes PIF becomes an investor in the status quo, believing that it’s better to have a multi-billion investment fund putting money into current structures rather than a disruptive entity such as LIV.
I still hate LIV,” he said. “Like, I hate LIV. Like, I hope it goes away. And I would fully expect that it does. And I think that’s where the distinction here is.
“This is the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF. Very different from LIV.”
McIlroy has said that money is not a motivating factor for him, but he’s softened his stance on those who’ve taken the cash.
“I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went at the start,” he said in January.
“I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realise that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger’s position.
You get this offer, and what do you do? We all turn professional to make a living playing the sports that we do.
“I think that’s what I realised over the last two years. I can’t judge people for making that decision, so if I regret anything, it was probably being too judgmental at the start.”
