Rory McIlroy reveals PGA Tour stance on LIV Golf showdown against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka

Rory McIlroy has admitted he and Scottie Scheffler had to fight to persuade the PGA Tour to back next week’s clash with LIV Golf stars Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

McIlroy and Scheffler – the PGA Tour’s most prized assets – will take on DeChambeau and Koepka, two of the most high-profile defectors to the Saudi-backed tour, in Las Vegas on December 17. 

‘The Crypto.com Showdown’, which includes a prize pot of $10million worth of cryptocurrency, is being billed as an unofficial LIV vs PGA Tour clash.

Talks over a possible end to golf’s civil war have dragged on since the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced a ‘framework agreement’ in June 2023.

On Tuesday, McIlroy was asked how the PGA Tour reacted to this idea. The Northern Irishman, who has previously been one of LIV’s most-outspoken critics, insists they have ‘been very supportive’.

But McIlroy admitted: ‘It took a few conversations to get them to the point where they saw that this could be a good thing in the long run.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler will face Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka

DeChambeau and Koepka are two of the most high-profile defectors to LIV Golf

The event, on December 17 in Las Vegas, will be called the Crypto.com Showdown

He added: ‘It took a few conversations. It wasn’t it wasn’t all plain sailing, but but we got there in the end.’

Ahead of the match, Koepka and DeChambeau teased a possible Ryder Cup-style clash between the best of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Scheffler insisted, however, that the ‘end goal’ is to bring ‘golf back together’ rather than pit the two factions against each other.

‘For us as players, I think we’d all love to see everybody back together,’ the world No 1 said. 

‘What I love most about the game of golf is the competition. And there’s so much talk nowadays about LIV vs. PGA and money. I think what most of us want is to just get back to is the competition… the end goal here is to get the game of golf back together.’

Scheffler added: ‘After Brooks and Bryson left, we only get to compete with them four times a year…. I want to compete against the best players in the world and wherever those players are competing, I think that’s where we all want to be. I think ideally you would get that 20 weeks a year not four.’