Rory McIlroy not backing down on PGA Tour stance as he makes thinly-veiled LIV Golf jibe

Rory McIlroy skipped a host of PGA Tour events this season and has now announced that he will continue to bypass competitions that don’t suit him next term, accompanied by a slight dig at LIV Golf

Rory McIlroy has made it clear he will still skip PGA Tour events that don’t suit him, whilst also delivering a thinly-veiled jab at LIV Golf for their globetrotting schedule.

The reigning Masters champion withdrew from a host of Tour events this campaign, including three signature events: the Memorial Tournament, The Sentry and the RBC Heritage. He also skipped the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three FedEx Cup Play-Off competitions.

Speaking this week, McIlroy admitted that next year will be much the same regarding scheduling, and he will continue to play only in Tour tournaments that ‘best fit’ his personal life despite the backlash he has received. However, while praising the freedom of the PGA Tour, he took what appears to be a subtle swing at rivals LIV and the fact that their events are staged painstakingly all over the globe.

“I’ll always look at the schedule at the start of the year and see what best fits me and my life, and everything else that I do with family or other opportunities that I’m pursuing outside of golf,” admitted McIlroy.

“This year, that meant skipping a few signature events. [Next year] I might skip less, I might skip the same amount,” he continued ahead of the Tour Championship.

“The luxury of being a PGA Tour player is we’re free to pick and choose our own schedule for the most part. I took advantage of that this year and I’ll continue to take advantage of that for as long as I can.”

Ahead of the 2026 PGA Tour campaign, a new schedule has been released, with a ninth signature event added. The Miami Championship will take place in late April into early May, sandwiched between the Masters and the US PGA Championship.

The Northern Irishman reacted well to these changes, despite them perhaps congesting the Tour schedule further, but took time to praise how these events are all played in relatively close quarters and not around the world like another professional tour.

“I think it’s all positive,” said the Holywood-born golfer of the schedule changes. “Golf builds through the January, February, March months, gets a huge popularity spike through [the Masters at] Augusta.

“To try and keep that momentum going through the next few weeks, through the [US] PGA, through the US Open, I think is a good thing.

“It’s quite a workload for the players to play that much golf in that stretch, but it’s not as if we’re having to travel halfway around the world to do it.”

LIV has integrated a greatly international schedule since its inception in 2021, and their 2026 rendition is promised on the tour’s website to be their “most global schedule yet!”

The PIF-backed league will begin the season in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and then travel to Australia, Singapore, South Africa, and Mexico.

LIV will stop in Virginia next before heading to Spain and the UK. They will then play their Individual Championship decider in Indianapolis in late August 2026.