Rory McIlroy is back in action this week at the 2026 DP World India Championship. There, he hopes to gain ground on Patrick Reed as he eyes his record-tying eighth Race to Dubai title.
A different topic, though, is hanging over the proceedings in India this week: the DP World Tour’s newly announced ban on LIV Golf players in 2027.
On Wednesday morning, just two days after the tour announced its major LIV decision, McIlroy sat down for a press conference at Delhi Golf Club. Though his Race-to-Dubai chase did not come up while fielding reporters’ questions, the DP World Tour’s new anti-LIV rule did.
In his responses, McIlroy mounted a detailed defense of the DP World Tour, arguing the tours’ leaders were “well within their rights” to change rules and regulations. He also threw his support behind the decision to ban LIV players from events next year, arguing it was necessary to protect the DP World Tour’s future.
There have been a ton of developments in the LIV Golf saga since the league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. But, with respect to Jon Rahm’s departure, the biggest news dropped this week.
On Monday, the DP World Tour announced that any player who signed up for LIV 2.0 in 2027 would not be allowed to play DP World Tour tournaments. Many LIV players had been contemplating splitting their time between LIV and the DP World Tour next year. But with one move, the DP World Tour took that option off the table. The decision also means players won’t be eligible for the 2027 European Ryder Cup team if they play on LIV in 2027.
If players flee LIV en masse as a result of the DP World Tour’s decision, it could mean the end for the upstart league.
In his DP World India press conference, McIlroy began his defense of the DP World Tour’s LIV ban by explaining that the DPWT is a “members’ organization,” and that you have to abide by the tour’s rules to maintain your membership, as is the case on the PGA Tour.
“But, yeah, we, as the DP World Tour, are a members’ organization, just as the PGA Tour is a members’ organization. Every year before you play your first event you sign up to abide by the rules and regulations of that members’ organization,” McIlroy explained. “The Australian Open is the start of next season, before I play the Australian Open I will sign a document that binds me to abide by the rules and regulation of the DP World Tour. When I go and play my first event in America, I will sign a document which binds me to abide by the rules and regulations of the PGA Tour.”
McIlroy then argued that the fact that players must agree to a tour’s rules and regulations “isn’t new information.”
“Everyone that plays on those tours does the exact same thing. This isn’t new information. Everyone does that every year,” McIlroy said.
But, of course, the DP World Tour’s rule banning LIV players is new information. In previous years, the DP World Tour was more open to LIV players competing in its events than the PGA Tour. As long as a player paid fines for playing in LIV events opposite DP World Tour events, they were permitted to play most DP World Tour tournaments and remained eligible for the Ryder Cup.
Now that is no longer the case. But McIlroy said he supports the change anyway, arguing that the DP World Tour has a right to alter the rules to “protect their business.”
“The leadership or the management of those membership organizations, they have the right to change and adapt the rules and regulations where they see fit to protect their business or their rights,” McIlroy said. “This is what the DP World Tour are doing.”
McIlroy went on to say that the DP World Tour has been “more than accommodating” to LIV players, and the tour’s decision was necessary as it attempts to work on its “strategic alliance” with the PGA Tour.
“I think with the way the golf landscape is, I know the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour are working really hard to find like a suitable landing to continue with the strategic alliance,” McIlroy argued. “I think while they’re doing that, LIV is in such a state of flux that, you know, I think the DP World Tour have been more than accommodating to LIV players.”
Furthermore, McIlroy said the DP World Tour’s LIV ban was a “good decision” because it adds certainty to pro golf after years of constant change.
“You know, yes, they’ve had to maybe do some things that have been conditional to their membership, like play a couple extra events this year, but I think this was always coming down the line,” McIlroy said on Wednesday. “I think the DP World Tour have made a good decision, because the golf landscape, I feel like it’s been constantly changing for the last four, five years. It’s now got to the point where guys are going to have to make a decision and what’s important to them and what they really want to do.”
Ultimately, he explained, the tour did what it thought was necessary to secure its own future.
“As I said, the DP World Tour are well within their rights to change the rules and regulations. This is the way to protect their business and to make the tour as strong as possible,” McIlroy said.
One day earlier, McIlroy sat down for an interview at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, during which McIlroy spoke at length about LIV’s dire situation and how it relates to the rest of pro golf.
While he claimed LIV “wasted money” by enriching pro golfers instead of supporting other areas of the game, he also made a surprising statement about the potential for LIV players to rejoin the PGA Tour.
First, McIlroy explained that there are a wide range of opinions among PGA Tour members, who would need to approve of any plan to bring LIV Golf players back to the Tour.
“On one hand, I’m sure some members that stayed loyal would feel hard done by if these guys can just walk straight back in. But then on the other side, having these players back on your tour is very good for business. That can drive revenues up and then everyone can benefit from that,” McIlroy said. “So, there certainly is a balance there.”
But when he was asked directly if he would vote in favor of star LIV Golf pros being invited back to the PGA Tour, he said he would, arguing the return of certain players would be good for business.
“Yes, I would. I think a rising tide lifts all boats, and I think having some of these players back is beneficial for the business of the tours,” McIlroy said. “Absolutely.”
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