NOPE: Rory McIlroy Not Interested In Premier Golf League

There’s been a lot of talk in the new year about the possibility of some top golfers defecting from the PGA TOUR and the European Tour in favor of the potential Premier Golf League (PGL). However, not all players are for the idea.

For those who still don’t know about the goal of the PGL, it’s a potential new golf association that hopes to launch in 2022. The hope is that this new league will attract the top 48 golfers in the world by offering 18 events with purses of at least $10 million per event. The league would also create a team structure with 12 players getting an ownership stake in the league as captains of four-person teams. Many stars have shown some level of interest in the upstart, but not everyone is a fan.

You can count Rory McIlroy as a player that has little interest in joining the new venture. As a player on both the PGA TOUR and European Tour, McIlroy stated this week at the WGC-Mexico that he wouldn’t be a fan of the league because it doesn’t offer any freedom. According to Rory, if you take the money to be a captain in the league, you are forced to do what the PGL says, possibly being forced to play in all 18 events which is something that isn’t a requirement on any other tour.

 
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“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,” McIlroy said. “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.”

Even with his harsh criticism, Rory hasn’t completely shut the door on the PGL. He stated in the same interview that the only way he’d join the new league would be if all of the best competition in golf jumped ship, forcing him to join to continue competing against the best in the sport. Now, if that doesn’t come to pass, he can’t see any other way he would leave the PGA TOUR or European Tour.

There’s still a lot of time before anything becomes concrete, but with guys like Tiger Woods already expressing at least some interest, McIlroy may be smart and do some due diligence. If the PGL is trying to line up top talent right now, they may want to steer clear of Rory, at least for the time being.

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