McIlroy On What The PGA Tour Must Change To Combat LIV

Rory McIlroy has outlined what he sees as an area the PGA Tour needs to improve on as the threat posed by the rival LIV Golf Invitational Series increases.

On Tuesday, a player-only meeting was held with many of the PGA Tour’s biggest names – including McIlroy - in attendance, and the 33-year-old said that everyone was in agreement on the future. Speaking ahead of this week’s BMW Championship, he said: “I think the one thing that came out of it, which I think was the purpose, is all the top players on this Tour are in agreement and alignment of where we should go going forward, and that was awesome.”

Video: Things You Didn't Know About Rory McIlroy

McIlroy was reluctant to go into detail about what was agreed in the meeting. However, he did offer an opinion on what he thinks needs to change to improve the PGA Tour. He said: "We need to get the top guys together more often than we do. I'm talking about all in the same tournaments, all in the same weeks.”

It is not known whether that was one of the topics proposed at the meeting. However, if McIlroy gets his way, it would mean even more far-reaching changes eventually coming to the Tour, aside from the increased purses which were recently unveiled for several tournaments.

In fact, there have already been hints that proposals of the nature McIlroy suggests are being worked on by the PGA Tour. A letter sent from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to members in June proposed three new international events to include the top 50 from the final FedEx Cup points list. They would also have a limited field, no cut format – similar to the LIV Golf Invitational Series.

While details of Tuesday’s meeting are being kept under wraps, one thing McIlroy was clear about is the impact Tiger Woods had on proceedings. On Woods’ decision to attend the meeting in-person, McIlroy said: “It's impactful, and I think it shows how much he cares about the Tour. I think it shows how much he cares about the players that are coming through and are going to be the next generation." 

Those comments echo the sentiments of another attendee at the meeting, Justin Thomas, who described Woods' passionate approach to the LIV Golf battle.