Rory McIlroy has poured cold water on talk that he could form part of the proposed Premier Golf League, a threat to the current world tours.
The World No 1 has spoken out about joining the league which has opened the door for a 48-player event. The league would see 12 four-man teams playing 18 events around the world for $10 million in prize money with a season-ending team championship. It has 2022 as its intended start date.
Whatever happens, do not expect to see the Northern Irishman line up for it.
‘For me, I’m out,’ McIlroy said.
‘My position is I’m against it until there may come a day that I can’t be against it. If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point, I don’t like what they are proposing.’
‘The more I have thought about it, the more I don’t like it. The one thing as a professional golfer in my position that I value is the fact that I have autonomy and freedom over everything that I do. I pick and choose. This is a perfect example. Some guys this week made the choice to not come to Mexico.
‘If you go and play this other golf league, you’re not going to have that choice. I read a thing the other day where it said if you take the money they can tell you what to do, so if you don’t take the money they can’t tell you what to do.
‘I’ve never been one for being told what to do and I like to have that autonomy and freedom over my career and I feel like I would give that up by going to play this other league.’
Tiger Woods is another unlikely to participate as he looks to tailor his schedule around Majors and WGC events for the rest of his career.
