McIlroy on DP World taking ex-members back: 'There has to be a bit of a reset'

• Mark SchlabachNov 4, 2026, 07:58 AM ET

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Rory McIlroy said he agrees with the DP World Tour's decision to allow former members to return next season because the LIV Golf League threatened to "destroy" the European tour before Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund pulled its funding in April.

Some golfers have criticized DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings for allowing former LIV Golf players like Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia to come back in 2027.

While LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil said his circuit's goal is now to "complete, not compete" with other tours if it moves forward with LIV 2.0, Kinnings delivered an ultimatum to golfers who want to compete on the DP World Tour: play on one but not both.

"I agree with everything that Guy said," McIlroy told reporters Wednesday at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship. "They took players, they took sponsors, they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta [National Golf Club] saying they wanted to destroy the European tour. Yeah, I agree with everything. I think people that don't agree are probably very shortsighted."

In an interview with The Scotsman on Tuesday, Kinnings said he must balance what's fair to golfers who remained loyal to the DP World Tour, while still protecting his tour from LIV Golf.

"We've got to protect that special culture that we have on the tour," Kinnings said. "And you see it across the whole tour. That's why I'm so proud of what we have-it's like nowhere else in the world. But we also have to protect the tour against an entity who spent, so we are told, over $7 billion, with one of their ⁠aims being to 'destroy the DP World Tour.' I have heard that from so many different people they talked to, who I have known for over 30 years within the game and who I trust implicitly.

"Clearly when you are faced with statements like that, and then people then ask why we are doing what we are doing with our membership and invite policy for 2027, then I think the answer becomes pretty obvious."

Kinnings told The Scotsman that the DP World Tour is working to extend its partnership with the PGA Tour. Recent financial reports revealed that the PGA Tour provided more than $77 million to the DP World Tour to boost its prize money in 2025 to combat LIV Golf.

With the PIF no longer an existential threat -- LIV 2.0 will have fewer tournaments and smaller purses if it goes forward -- Kinnings said his tour must decide whether to adjust its prize money, reduce the number of tournaments it plays or focus on Rolex Series and national opens.

McIlroy, who plays on both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, agreed that men's professional golf needs a reset after LIV Golf's collapse.

"I think we'll look back on it as a very strange time," McIlroy said. "It gave players a lot of leverage over the tours, and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing for the overall health of the professional game. I think there has to be a balance there. There has to be a bit of give and take.

"You know, I've said this from the start, like there's never been a better time to be a professional golfer. Talk to Jack Nicklaus or any of these older guys, they would have loved LIV to come around in their day. They would have made more money, and we are all making more money because of it. But I do think there has to be a bit of a reset."

McIlroy suggested that LIV Golf and the PIF created a "false economy" when it lured away PGA Tour members with guaranteed contracts worth more than $100 million and $30 million purses in 2025.

"I think that there is going to be a bit of a reset here, just for things to be a little bit more sustainable," McIlroy said. "There's not as much of an arms race as there was maybe a couple of years ago, and some players will argue that that's not good for players. I think that's very short-term thinking. If you want sustainable tours, and we want these tours [to be] around in 50 years' time, there has to be sustainable business practices in place to make sure they are around in 50 years' time."