McIlroy Backs DP World Tour Chief's Claim LIV Wanted Tour Destroyed

Rory McIlroy has thrown his weight behind DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings, endorsing Kinnings' assertion that LIV Golf's original aim was to destroy the European circuit, Sky Sports Golf reported.

Speaking to media ahead of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on Wednesday, McIlroy said he agreed "with everything that Guy said", according to Yahoo Sports.

The world number one's position was that the breakaway league had lured away players and sponsors from the DP World Tour and, in his words, had "turned professional golf into an arms race". He added that LIV representatives had told people at Augusta that destroying the European Tour was part of their plan.

His comments followed an interview Kinnings gave to The Scotsman earlier in the week, in which the chief executive defended the Tour's new 2027 membership rules. Under those rules, players will have to choose between competing on the DP World Tour or LIV Golf rather than holding status on both, as has been possible in recent years.

Kinnings told the paper the Tour needed to "protect that special culture that we have on the Tour", pointing to reports that LIV Golf had spent more than $7bn since its launch, with one of its stated aims being to "destroy the DP World Tour". He said he had heard that claim repeated by figures he has known for over 30 years in the game and trusts implicitly.

Kinnings framed the Tour's broader ambition as wanting to "complete, not compete" with rival circuits, while acknowledging that welcoming former LIV players back under the 2027 rules risked unsettling some of his existing membership.

He also said the DP World Tour is working to extend its partnership with the PGA Tour, which reportedly contributed more than $77m last year to boost prize money as the European circuit competed with LIV Golf and the funding it had received from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, per Yahoo Sports.

LIV Golf itself is attempting to relaunch as what has been described as "LIV 2.0" after losing funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The league has secured a conditional funding commitment of more than $300m from BC Partners, though its long-term future remains unresolved.

The league has also been shedding talent. Jon Rahm spoke publicly for the first time on Tuesday, confirming he intends to play on the DP World Tour next season while remaining open to a Brooks Koepka-style route back to the PGA Tour sooner, should such an offer arise. Patrick Reed, another former LIV player, has spent this season on the DP World Tour and is close to reclaiming his PGA Tour card.

McIlroy said he welcomed what he called "a bit of a reset" in men's golf, arguing that any sustainable future for the tours required, in his words, "sustainable business practices" rather than the spending battle of recent years.

McIlroy tees it up next at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, the event he was preparing for when he made the comments.