Rory McIlroy Says He'll Never Leave PGA Tour Amid $850M LIV Golf Contract Rumors

Rory McIlroy has shut down reports he could leave the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf on a contract worth $850 million.

Speaking exclusively to Golf Channel's Todd Lewis, McIlroy said Tuesday that he never intends to join the PGA Tour's rival competition:

According to SB Nation's Jack Milko, City AM, a financial newspaper in London, initially reported McIlroy was in talks about a deal with LIV that would have included him receiving a two percent stake in the company.

In response to rumors of the report, McIlroy's manager, Sean O'Flaherty, told Brian Keogh of the Irish Independent in an email the story was "fake news" and there was "zero truth" to it.

The report from City AM stated a deal between the two sides was "close" with an offer of $850 million plus a small equity in LIV.

Multiple reports, including from Jamie Weir of Sky Sports and James Corrigan of The Telegraph, have disputed that McIlroy is nearing any sort of agreement with LIV Golf.

The rumblings about McIlroy potentially being open to joining LIV Golf seem to have started with comments from his former agent, Chubby Chandler, telling Ben Parsons of Bunkered.co.uk that McIlroy's history suggests he will backtrack on previous statements he has expressed:

"Rory is not shy in having an opinion and not slow to apologise if he's got that wrong. When he turned pro in 2008 we were sat on a bench at Gleneagles and I had Rory telling me that the Ryder Cup meant nothing at all to him. 'It was just an exhibition match. I'm here to win majors.' There's nobody bigger into the Ryder Cup now than Rory McIlroy. ... Rory is of the ilk that he'll say something because he likes to have an opinion but he's quite happy to apologise for it and that's what he's done. If you were being cynical, you might say he's going to sign for about £750million in a month's time with LIV because he's paving the way that LIV's okay now, whereas it wasn't."

Amid some pushback that McIlroy's stance against LIV had softened from today compared to when the circuit debuted in 2022, he told ESPN's Marty Smith in March that LIV is "not for me."

McIlroy and Tiger Woods led a meeting among PGA Tour players in 2022 when they were formulating a plan to combat the rising threat posed to the circuit by LIV Golf. The result at the time led to the PGA Tour increasing total purses for certain events, as well as commitments from the top 20 players in the Player Impact Program to participate in elevated tournaments they are eligible and three additional events.

Even if there's no substance to the rumors of McIlroy joining LIV Golf, this does raise even more questions about the previously announced union with the PGA Tour that was supposed to combine the PGA's and LIV's commercial-related businesses and rights under a single umbrella.

That announcement was made last June, but the two sides still have yet to finalize the agreement that initially had a deadline of Dec. 31, 2023. The PGA Tour agreed to a deal in January with Strategic Sports Group to provide an infusion of $3 billion cash to the circuit, with the money being paid out in two installments of $1.5 billion.

In December, Jon Rahm left the PGA Tour to sign a deal with LIV that's believed to be worth more than $300 million.

McIlroy turned pro in 2007 at the age of 18. He's been one of the most successful golfers of this era with four major titles on his resume, including two victories in the PGA Championship in 2012 and 2014.