Why Rory McIlroy Thinks LIV Golf Is ‘Caught In No Man’s Land’

Rory McIlroy thinks LIV Golf is "caught in no man’s land" over how much it has innovated.

The 34-year-old offered his thoughts during a press conference for one of the TGL’s six teams Boston Common Golf Club, which he will play for along with Tyrrell Hatton, Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott.

McIlroy, who co-founded the TGL with Tiger Woods and Mike McCarley, was asked why the innovations being brought by his tech-infused enterprise are something that excites him while those introduced by LIV Golf didn’t. 

He first stressed that, unlike the big-money circuit, the TGL is not being introduced to disrupt the PGA Tour. He said: "This is meant to be complementary. It’s not meant to be disruptive in any way.

“So, whenever Mike [McCarley] brought this idea to Tiger and I, I think one of the first things we said was, ‘Well, if you’re going to do this. we’re going to have to try and partner with the PGA Tour in some way and really try to make this complementary.’ So that was the first thing. This wasn’t adversarial at all. It was how to be, ‘How can we be additive to the entire system?’"

The TGL will feature a stadium with real grass and a screen 20x bigger than normal simulators at the heart of the action, while the teams will compete over 15 holes comprising Triples and Singles sessions in a format dubbed Modern Match Play, Overall, each of its 15 regular-season events will also take only around two hours while there will be a shot clock and referee. 

LIV Golf also offers several key differences to the established circuits, including limited field, no-cut events played over just 54 holes and with a team aspect as well as an individual competition. However, McIlroy questioned whether its innovations had been effective. 

He continued: “I don’t want to sit here and talk about LIV but I think you could make the argument that they haven’t innovated enough away from what traditional golf is or they’ve innovated too much, that they’re not traditional golf. They’re sort of caught in no man’s land, where this is so far removed from what we know golf to be.”

Last week, the TGL’s preparations faced a setback when one of its 24 players, two-time Major winner Jon Rahm, pulled out of its inaugural season. He wrote on X: “I am sad to confirm that I will not be participating in the first TGL season. While I still think it’s a great opportunity, right now it would require a level of commitment that I can’t offer. Best of luck to everyone involved and may the best team win!"

The TGL begins on 9 January, with coverage on ESPN and ESPN+.