Rory McIlroy called LIV Golf dead in 2022. It wasn’t. He hated it in 2023. It survived. He made peace with it in 2024. Now in 2026, the PIF has pulled over $5 billion in funding, and McIlroy no longer needs to say anything harsh. Just a subtle jab with a little bit of laughter would do the trick.

“It doesn’t mean that LIV is going to go away,” the 37-year-old replied to the media at the $20 million Truist Championship. “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,” he said, while laughing.

What makes McIlroy’s current tone worth noting is how far it has traveled. In February 2022, he called LIV “dead in the water.” By June 2023, he was saying, “I still hate LIV. I hope it goes away.” Then, a month later, the golfer said, “If LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on Earth, I would retire.” By January 2024, he was saying “let them come back” and admitting he had been “a little judgmental” of the players who left.

The PIF has poured over $5 billion into LIV Golf since its launch in 2022, and it is now stepping away, citing a shift in investment strategy. LIV has since retained NY-based investment bank Ducera Partners to help find new backers. Ducera has a transaction history exceeding $850 billion across industries, so the search is serious, but the fact that they need to search at all is precisely what McIlroy was pointing at.

On the player side, Rory McIlroy was asked about a potential pathway back to the PGA Tour for LIV golfers. His answer was practical.

“Anything that makes this Tour stronger, anything that makes the DP World Tour stronger, I think everyone should be open to that. That’s just good business practice.”

Practically, a return makes sense for several players on paper. For instance, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Phil Mickelson, and others. When LIV’s future beyond 2026 is uncertain, returning to the PGA Tour means more OWGR points, major championship qualification, and long-term stability. We have seen how Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have returned through the DP World Tour and special re-entry programs.

Now, with the PIF stepping back, the reality has shifted again. McIlroy didn’t gloat at length. He just laughed, said it “says something,” and let the numbers do the rest. Interestingly, McIlroy had answers for everything at the mic this week as he arrived at Quill Hollow.

The preparation debate Rory McIlroy settled

There was an unexpected subplot to McIlroy’s Masters win. He withdrew with a back injury from the Arnold Palmer Invitational and played The Players at 75 percent and finished T-46 at TPC Sawgrass. The same injury gave him more Augusta prep time than anyone else in the field.

It was all he had. Private jets flew in and out of Augusta National, enabling multiple rounds to be played at the course, even as rivals teed it up on Tour. Former champion access made it possible, and Rory McIlroy knew exactly what he was doing with it. But he was surprised knowing that people had a problem with it.

“It gave me the opportunity to go up to Augusta and prepare maybe more than anyone else in the field,” he told Jason and Travis Kelce on their New Heights podcast. “Which I actually got a little bit of s— for afterward, which was weird.”

Jason Kelce agreed that the criticism made little sense.

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called it an unfair advantage, while acknowledging McIlroy broke no rules. Fellow PGA Tour professionals raised eyebrows, too, despite having the same access available to them. McIlroy laughed it off. At this point, fresh off a Masters title and unbothered by LIV questions, not much was getting to him.

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