Rory McIlroy: If LIV players don't want to rejoin PGA Tour, 'I think that says something about you'

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 08: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on while playing the 18th hole during the second round of the Truist Championship 2026 at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 08, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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Rory McIlroy caught fire on Quail Hollow’s back nine Friday afternoon at the Truist Championship, birdieing five of his first seven holes coming in. Despite a closing bogey, McIlroy, competing for the first time this week since his second Masters title, carded 4-under 67 to move to 5 under, four shots back of leader Sungjae Im.

McIlroy’s post-round interview session, however, featured few questions about his round. After McIlroy fielded zero questions in his pre-tournament presser or after Thursday’s round related to LIV Golf and recent news that the league was losing its Saudi-backed funding at season’s end, that was the meat of McIlroy’s latest conversation with the media.

“I think everyone sort of knows my views on LIV and where it stands in the game of golf,” McIlroy said. “I don't think I need to rehash any of that. It's never been for me and, look, it doesn't mean that LIV is going to go away. They're going to go and try and find alternative investment, whatever that may look like. But when one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you're too expensive for them, that sort of says something.”

With Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has already spent $5 billion on LIV in five years, pulling out while expressing that LIV’s “substantial investment … is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil has now been forced to look for alternative investment options to keep the league afloat. LIV has recently established a new board of directors, and several LIV members have reportedly reached out to the PGA Tour about potential pathways back following the reintegration of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.

McIlroy was asked about the prospect of welcoming back LIV players such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, the latter of whom recently agreed to a deal with the DP World Tour but also revealed he had “several years” left on his LIV contract – “I don’t see many ways out,” Rahm added.

“If it is a scenario where they have the option to come back and play on the traditional tours, you know, I think Brian Rolapp has said anything that makes this Tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, I think everyone should be open to that,” McIlroy said. “That's just good business practice. But again, I think there's going to be a lot of sort of bridges to cross to get there, just because, you know, obviously the guys over there are under contract and if they are able to keep it going and get a schedule together next year, it seems like those guys are still going to play the majority of their golf on LIV, in whatever form it takes.”