As the dust settled on an extraordinary press conference by Keith Pelley, the European Tour Group’s chief executive, at Wentworth, Rory McIlroy admitted friendships had been ruined by defections to LIV Golf. An emboldened McIlroy took withering swipes at Sergio García, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and any LIV rebel who may contend at this weekend’s PGA Championship. Pelley had earlier castigated “the LIV propaganda machine”. Golf’s civil war shows no sign of abating.
McIlroy has been staunch in his defence of the PGA and DP World Tours against the Saudi-backed series, which now includes three of his Ryder Cup teammates. When asked whether his relationship with García, Poulter and Westwood can survive, McIlroy replied: “I don’t know. I have no idea. I wouldn’t say I’ve got much of a relationship with them at the minute. But if you’re just talking about Ryder Cup, that’s not the future of the Ryder Cup team.
