Why Rory McIlroy calls LIV Golf format change a 'peculiar move'
Cameron Jourdan- LIV Golf announced it will switch from 54-hole tournaments to 72-hole events starting next year.
- The change is seen as an effort to meet the criteria for Official World Golf Ranking points.
- Rory McIlroy expressed confusion over the move, stating he doesn't believe the number of rounds was the main issue.
- McIlroy also questioned if gaining ranking points now would significantly benefit LIV players whose rankings have already dropped.
Count Rory McIlroy as one of the people confused by LIV Golf's surprising announcement on Tuesday.
The Saudi-backed league, which will enter its fifth season of play next February, announced all tournaments would be contested over 72 holes next year, a change from three-day, 54-hole events the first four years. Even the league's moniker is the roman numerals for 54, the amount of players in the league and holes it played every week.
Now, in an effort to further align with guidelines, the Official World Golf Ranking has set out to receive world ranking points. LIV Golf continues to change, but now it has a similar format to the PGA Tour and most other major tours around the world.
And McIlroy, competing in this week's DP World Tour event at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links in the United Arab Emirates, is confused by the change.
"I think it's a peculiar move because I think they could have got ranking points with three rounds," McIlroy said. "I don't think three rounds versus four rounds is what was holding them back."
"Yeah, I don't — it certainly puts them more in line with traditional golf tournaments than what we've all done. It brings them back into not really being a destructor and sort is of falling more in line with what everyone else does. But if that's what they felt they needed to do to get the ranking points, I guess that's what they had to do."
The announcement came as a surprise to most Tuesday, a major change for the most disruptive golf tour in the history of the game. But it was the latest in a line of changes LIV has made, trying to earn ranking points.
Just on Monday, the league doubled the number of spots available in the league via the International Series and its Promotions Event, another change likely in an effort to appease the OWGR board. Last year, LIV Golf withdrew its official bid for OWGR points, which was originally sent in June 2022, but the league resubmitted an application over the summer. Now, it's making changes to try to earn those coveted points.
From McIlroy's standpoint, he doesn't know how much it matters.
"Yeah, I think what's hard is you've got the LIV guys, and say potentially they get World Rankings, but because their strength of fields are going to be so weak because a lot of the guys have fallen already in the rankings because they have not had ranking points for so long, I don't know if the ranking points are really going to benefit them," he said.
"It will be interesting to see how it plays out."