Rory McIlroy Shades YouTube Golf and Hints at One Change the PGA TOUR Needs

Rory McIlroy said in a recent press conference that YouTube golf has obviously diminished the pro game as viewers find content creators to be more entertaining. But in the same stroke, McIlroy said he personally would rather watch pros than Joes (shoutout to Cold Cuts), but now he believes the PGA TOUR is in a position to make a drastic change to its schedule.

In an interview this week, McIlroy said YouTube golf has already diminished the professional ranks because “it serves a purpose for a lot of people.”

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But he was also transparent that personally, he would not be interested in that level of golf because another one is available (via Sports Illustrated):

“But look, I would much rather sit down and watch real golfers play real tournaments and that’s just my opinion. That to me is more entertaining. But I understand that other people want something different and that’s totally fine as well.”

The fact that the PGA TOUR has truly fallen victim to an everchanging landscape has McIlroy rethinking the number of tournaments it offers, believing it could be time to step back a bit:

“But I understand that other people want something different and that’s totally fine as well. I think there’s space for all of this. Yeah, I can see when the golf consumer might get a little fatigued of everything that’s sort of available to them. So to scale it back a little bit and maybe have a little more scarcity in some of the stuff that we do, like the NFL, I think might not be a bad thing.” 

Many people criticized LIV Golf for the lack of consistency in its schedule. LIV thrives off of a shortened schedule, shortened tournament length, and fewer tournaments played across its season compared to the PGA TOUR.

McIlroy played 19 events last year, making 18 cuts. He has traditionally not started his season until February at the Genesis Invitational, his friend Tiger Woods’ event.

He also tends to wrap things up on the PGA TOUR at the tail end of the season, but will play a few international tournaments. It is hard to imagine playing less golf will benefit the sport as a whole. Instead, it seems the TOUR needs to come up with ways to have more entertainment for fans and viewers.

It also would not hurt to have more of an emphasis on pace of play, something that many have recently complained about.

Cover Image via AP News