Masters champion Rory McIlroy believes Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour signals the decline of LIV Golf.
The swift return of the five-time major winner, less than a month after he left his contract with the Saudi rogue league a year earlier, has been widely acclaimed by many top professionals.
His departure convinced PGA Tour to rewrite its rules to accommodate it within a specific penalty box and even offer a window for the return of fellow notables Brison DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith.
McIlroy, whose first competitive round this year shot a five-under 66 to lead the Dubai Invitational, said it shows the current state of the game.
Rory McIlroy believes Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour shows the decline of LIV Golf
“It’s not like they made any big signings this year, is it?” said the Northern Irishman The Daily Telegraph.
“They haven’t signed anyone who moves the needle and I don’t think they will.”
“I mean, they could re-sign Bryson for hundreds of millions of dollars, but even if they do, it doesn’t change their product, does it?
“They’re just going to pay for the exact same thing. And they lost Brooks.”
2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clarke also welcomed Koepka’s return but admitted his frustration at being rejected by LIV in the past.
“I personally like Brooks a lot, and I think at the end of the day it’s really good for the PGA Tour,” Clark said Wednesday. Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio. “But also, as a guy who had the opportunity to go to LIV, it’s kind of frustrating that he’s able to have his cake and eat it too.
“I don’t know, I’m very torn because at the end of the day I want what’s best for the PGA Tour, and I think if guys come back, especially top players like Brooks, it’s only going to help the Tour, which will ultimately help me. So, yeah, I mean, I don’t really know how I feel…
“If you had told me I could go away for a year and a half, make a ton of money and then come back and play on Tour, I think almost everyone would have done that.”
Mcllroy starts strong in Dubai with new irons
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Highlights from the first round of the Dubai Invitational where Rory McIlroy leads at Dubai Creek Resort.
McIlroy switched from blades to hollow-back irons for the new season, the type used by the vast majority of amateur golfers because they are more forgiving, and was pleased with the move to Dubai Creek Resort.
“If there’s help, I’ll definitely take it. I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he said Ski Sports.
“I have a new golf ball in the game this week, but overall I liked what I saw at home and today was a good test of that and I felt everything was pretty good. All in all, a good way to start the year.”
McIlroy seemed to get to grips with the new setup immediately after making the turn in five-under-31.
He was inches away from an eagle starting at the 10th, but that set the tone for the first of seven birdies in 10 holes as, with his wedges in, he hit his approaches all within 11 feet on the par-five five.
His only mistakes were a missed short putt at the 12th and third, where he failed to escape the sand after running into a greenside bunker, but further frustration followed as he could only parry his way home.
Play was paused in the middle of the day to remember young golfer Emanuele Galepini, who was due to be the junior captain at Dubai Creek this year, and the 39 other people who died in a fire in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on New Year’s Day.
Scotland’s Conoy Syme and Spain’s David Puig trail with England’s Matt Wallace, who had an eagle and six birdies in the nine-hole race, in
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