MEXICO CITY – Rory McIlroy has given plenty of thought to a proposed new league that would rival the PGA Tour and European Tour.
He’s not jumping ship and turning his back on either tour.
“The more I’ve thought about it, the more I don’t like it,” McIlroy said ahead of Thursday’s start of the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship. “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.
“This (week) 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. And I think that’s my thing, 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.
“For me, I’m out.”
That is, unless one day comes where he’s forced to go to what is now being called the Premier Golf League because most of the game’s best would be in the league.
“My position is I’m against it until there may come a day that I can’t be against it,” he said. “If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point, yeah, I don’t like what they’re proposing.”
The proposed league would feature 48 players playing an 18-event schedule in tournaments around the world with $10 million purses, with a season-ending team championship. The league would have a lot of guaranteed money for the players and include a team concept that would dole out ownership stakes for 12 players who would captain four-man teams.
The goal is for the league to start in 2022.
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