Rory McIlroy doubts PGA Tour, LIV Golf reunion

World number two Rory McIlroy has expressed doubt over a reunion between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, saying on Wednesday that the two sides have grown "too far apart" to reach a deal to unify men's professional golf.

McIlroy, the PGA Tour’s most vocal member to oppose LIV Golf, wished to see the worlds best compete against one another other than at the four majors of the year, but was not optimistic.

McIlroy preempted this week's European Tour Hero Dubai Desert Classic by explaining that the two cannot be reunited yet.

"I just don't see a world where it can happen at this point," McIlroy said.

The remarks made by McIlroy were less than a week after the PGA Tour reinstated Brooks Koepka in a new programme that grants a partial window to a few players to resume.

The rift has gone to the extent of capturing the interest of US President Donald Trump, a keen golfer who attended two meetings on the issue at the White House last February, when a hope was that the schism between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour would be resolved.

McIlroy, who achieved a career Grand Slam with his victory at last year's Masters, believed that ties between the two circuits had improved since LIV Golf debuted in June 2022, but did not imply that either party would make the necessary compromises.

According to McIlroy, reunification could not happen since everyone would feel to have lost and not to have won.

"Just I don't see a world where the two or three sides or whoever it is will give up enough," said McIlroy.

"Like for reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won ... I think they are just too far apart for that to happen."