Rory McIlroy: If LIV Golf was the last place on earth to play golf, I would retire!

Rory McIlroy has slammed the door shut on him ever being part of LIV Golf, saying of the start-up circuit: “If LIV Golf was the last place on earth to play golf, I would retire - that’s how I feel about it!”

Rory McIlroy looks on from the 11th green during day one of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian. Picture: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

Earlier this week, it was revealed at a US Senate subcommittee investigation that proposals for a long-term agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) included McIlroy and Woods owning LIV Golf teams.

After spending the last year serving as the de facto face of the PGA Tour in its battle with Liv Golf, McIlroy recently decided to step out of the spotlight in a bid to concentrate on his own game.

But, after getting off to a flying start with a six-under-par 64 in the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian, the Northern Irishman indicated that his opinion about LIV Golf had not changed despite the recent shock development.

“Yeah, seriously,” he said of feeling he’d retire if that was the only option available to him. “I’d play the majors, but I’d be pretty comfortable.”

On Wednesday, American duo Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth both indicated they now had trust issues with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who is due to return to work on Monday after taking a break due to a “medical situation” following the announcement being made.

Responding to that, McIlroy said: “Maybe not as serious for me because I sort of knew what was going on. So I wasn’t quite as in the dark as some of the other guys. But people felt blindsided by it and I can obviously understand why Jordan and Xander and a lot of other guys would feel that way.”

McIlroy, who signed for an eagle and six birdies in an impressive opening effort in the $9 million Rolex Series event on Scotland’s Golf Coast, didn’t watch the US Senate investigation on Tuesday, but he is aware of parts of what was revealed in a 270-page document.

“There wasn’t a lot of new information in there for me, there may have been new information in there for other people,” he commented. “As I said, I’ve almost been too close to it for the last year and a bit, so it’s nice to be able to try and distance myself a bit.”

McIlroy dismissed a suggestion that he’d shown loyalty to the PGA Tour by speaking up for the US circuit but appeared to have been shown none in return due to being kept in the dark about the talks with PIF.

“I don’t know about that,” he said. “I think they were trying to do what was right for the tour, which, in turn, means what is right for the players on that tour. I think I read a quote: ‘They were negotiating their survival’, I think that’s a very fair thing for a business to do.

“I think I am just apathetic to all the noise around it. As long as the tournaments I play keep on existing, I’ll be very happy to play them and be a professional golfer and try to get a little closer every day to mastering my craft.

“The thing I have realised is no matter what I do, say or try to show leadership, I’m going to be just fine. And, look, I tried to step up for the guys who didn’t have a voice early on.

“I think with everything that has transpired over the last few weeks the players are going to find themselves at the table more and more to try to get whatever it is they want out of it. Again, as long as I get to play the golf I’ve known over the last 15 years of my career I’ll be happy.”