Rory McIlroy Says He Would Vote to Let LIV Golf Players Back on the DP World Tour
Rory McIlroy has said he would vote in favour of allowing LIV Golf players to return to the DP World Tour, days after the tour confirmed that anyone competing on the breakaway circuit in 2027 will be barred from membership.
Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, where he is playing in the DP World India Championship, McIlroy described the Saudi-backed league as "half of a good idea that was executed pretty poorly."
A Verdict on Four Years of Disruption
McIlroy's assessment was of the strategy rather than the ambition. He argued that LIV had been handed an enormous amount of capital and wasted it, and that the same money deployed differently, including in partnership with the game's governing bodies, could have achieved considerably more.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund put £3.7 billion into the venture across four years, a sum that was enough to draw Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau away from the PGA Tour. The fund withdrew its support this year, and LIV subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.
Plans for a relaunch as LIV 2.0 are built around potential backing of up to $300 million, or around £227 million, from BC Partners. That investment is contingent on a specified number of players committing to re-sign, which is why the coming fortnight matters so much to the league's prospects.
McIlroy does not expect a revived version to carry the same weight. "But if they do it is certainly not going to be a threat to the traditional order of the game as it once was," he said.
Why He Would Readmit the Players
Having been among the most prominent critics of LIV when it launched, McIlroy's position on the players who joined it is now straightforwardly pragmatic. "I would vote for them to come back," he said.
His reasoning rests on commercial logic. Returning players would strengthen the fields and the revenues of the established tours, and that benefit outweighs the awkwardness of readmitting those who left. He acknowledged that members who stayed through the disruption could reasonably feel "hard done by" at seeing those who departed welcomed back on favourable terms.
The DP World Tour's membership is divided on exactly that point. Joost Luiten, a six-time winner on the tour, has criticised players who left for the money and now want a route back, arguing they should be made to requalify through Q-School like anyone else.
The Decision That Prompted the Question
The tour's position hardened last week. Chief executive Guy Kinnings confirmed that players signing with LIV for 2027 will not be permitted to hold DP World Tour membership, telling BBC Sport that "players will have to make a choice" and that those unwilling to follow the tour's rules should not be seeking to join it.
The consequence extends beyond tournament access. Only DP World Tour members are eligible for the Ryder Cup, which returns to Europe in 2027, and Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were the only two European LIV players in the 2025 side at Bethpage Black.
Rahm has already announced he will not continue with LIV, describing the terms he was offered as unacceptable. Sergio Garcia and David Puig have been granted releases from the league.
Two Deadlines, Weeks Apart
The timing leaves players with little room. LIV's own membership deadline falls on 25 October, while the window to declare for DP World Tour membership runs for roughly five weeks from the tour's announcement.
The PGA Tour's stance remains more restrictive still, with a one-year suspension in place that denies LIV-linked players access until August next year. For a group of golfers who spent four years being courted by competing circuits, the position has reversed almost entirely.
