McIlroy Says LIV Created a "False Economy" and Golf Needs a Reset

Rory McIlroy has said that LIV Golf created a "false economy" in men's professional golf, and that the sport needs a reset to become more sustainable. His comments, published on 4 November 2026 by the BBC, come as LIV, the Saudi-funded rival tour, prepares to try again next year.

A false economy is a set of figures that looks healthy but rests on spending that cannot last. McIlroy's argument is that the big money pulled into the game by LIV has not produced a stable system underneath. He said recent years will be looked back on as a very strange time in golf's history.

He also said that giving players more leverage over the tours, meaning more bargaining power in negotiations, has not been good for the overall health of the professional game. In his view, the tours need sustainable business practices if they are still to exist in 50 years' time. The Independent reported his hope that the sport is set for "a bit of a reset".

McIlroy also said that people connected to LIV were telling people at Augusta in April that they wanted to destroy the European Tour.

His position has shifted in places over the past year. In October, he said he would vote to welcome players who signed with LIV back to the PGA Tour. In June, he had warned that the false economy created by the threat of LIV may be putting some well-established PGA Tour events at risk. In November 2025, he said a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV would be difficult to agree.

For fans, the stakes are simple. Tour events, prize money and the players who earn their living on them all depend on the money behind the sport staying put. McIlroy's message is that the money has been moving too fast to be trusted, and that golf now needs to slow down and build something that lasts.

LIV's attempt to relaunch next year will be the next test of that argument. Whether the reset he wants is possible depends on the tours, the players and the backers who fund the game all moving in the same direction.