Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy has hit back against suggestions that the PGA Tour's upcoming 'elevated events' will encourage more division at the top end of golf.
In response to the rising threat posed by LIV Golf, the PGA announced last August that it would host a certain number of events with 'elevated' status for the highest-ranked players. Reports of enlarged prize purses and no cuts at said events raised concerns of unfairness amid the PGA's upper crust, but McIlroy argued the organisation had a responsibility to shine a spotlight on those big names.
“The best players should be playing in [the 'elevated events'] because ultimately the PGA Tour needs to be built around the best players,” the Northern Irishman told reporters ahead of this weekend's Genesis Invitational. "That's what will maximise the value of the product.
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“But that doesn't mean that there's not great storylines further down that list, which we're all very cognizant of. I've had tons of conversations with guys that are worried about what events they're going to play next year and all that.
“No-one's trying to screw the bottom half of the tour here. If anything, we're trying to lift it up. I hate calling it a product but if you have a product that this year's forecast to do $2billion in gross revenue, you're trying to grow that product as much as possible.”
The concept of LIV Golf has long encountered criticism for its lucrative, no-cut format comprising the biggest pay packets golf has witnessed. McIlroy's close friend Tiger Woods has even questioned how players can be motivated in the same manner when one is guaranteed significant winnings.
The difference with the PGA's 'elevated events' is that, due to the depth of its talent pool, players will have the opportunity to miss an event but qualify for the next. And therein lies the difference, as far as McIlroy is concerned.
“I think that the big thing has been, is this going to be like a closed shop for the same guys every single week, and it's not," he continued. "This tour was built on meritocracy. This tour was built on if you shoot the scores, you can move up the levels and play the biggest events. That's not going to be taken away.
“As I said at the start, it's just about making it more competitive. Ultimately, I think that's a good thing. I'm not saying that we're going to have field sizes of 50. It's going to be closer to what you've seen in the past."
Resurgent world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler won the first elevated event on the PGA Tour when he scored a £3m first-place prize at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The competition's total prize pot was more than doubled to $20m (£16.7m) this year in an attempt to appease players amid the LIV exodus.
Stars will compete for an identical purse at the Genesis Invitational this weekend after it also had its winnings significantly boosted ahead of 2023. The PGA increased its total event tournament winnings to $428.6m this season in response to LIV's threat, with McIlroy continuing in his role as a major ambassador for golf's establishment.
