Rory McIlroy claims he knew LIV was in trouble and breakaway tour was always a ‘risk’

Rory McIlroy: ‘Whenever you have funding tied so much to the geopolitical landscape in the world, that’s a tricky road to navigate.’ Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

Rory McIlroy has revealed he heard rumblings of impending trouble for LIV Golf weeks before Saudi ­Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) ­confirmed it would withdraw funding for the circuit. The Masters champion believes the PIF approach highlights the danger of sport ­becoming reliant on anything that can be affected by world affairs.

LIV is engaged in a race against time to survive with PIF, which has bestowed more than $5bn (£3.7bn) on the tour, to exit at the end of 2026. News of that, which emerged in the immediate aftermath of ­McIlroy’s ­successful defence at Augusta National last month, shocked those within LIV but not the Northern Irishman.