Speaking ahead of this week’s Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, Rory McIlroy said LIV Golf officials openly talked about wanting to “destroy” the DP World Tour, backing up comments made by the tour’s chief executive.
DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings told the Scotsman in an interview ahead of the Abu Dhabi event that LIV had been aiming to “destroy” the European circuit. Kinnings said he had heard this from “so many different people” that he trusts “implicitly.”
Asked about Kinnings’ remarks, McIlroy, who is competing in Abu Dhabi this week, said he agreed entirely.
“I agree with everything that Guy said. They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour.”
LIV Golf, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, spent years signing top players away from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour while operating with effectively unlimited funding. McIlroy has been among the circuit’s most consistent critics since it launched.
Despite its spending power, LIV did not ultimately dismantle the European Tour. The Saudi funding behind the league was cut off just weeks after the Masters in April, and LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. What becomes of a possible “LIV 2.0” remains unclear, while a number of players who left for LIV are now expected to return to compete on the DP World Tour in 2027.
