Pay up or forget the Ryder Cup: Rory McIlroy calls out LIV stars

Rory McIlroy has delivered a blunt message to LIV Golf stars Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton while also casting further doubt over any reunification of men’s professional golf, saying the sport’s main factions are now too divided to reconcile.

Speaking ahead of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy said Rahm and Hatton should resolve their disciplinary disputes with the DP World Tour if they want to keep their hopes of playing in the Ryder Cup alive. Both players face substantial fines for joining LIV Golf and are currently challenging those sanctions through legal channels. McIlroy believes the issue could be settled simply by paying the penalties and removing uncertainty over their eligibility.

The Northern Irishman stressed that players knowingly agreed to tour regulations before making the move to LIV and argued that the DP World Tour is entitled to enforce its rules. He also pointed to past Ryder Cup debates, when European players insisted they would be willing to pay to represent their continent rather than be paid, suggesting this principle should now be tested in practice.

Hatton, the defending champion in Dubai, appeared taken aback when informed of McIlroy’s comments and declined to engage in detail, saying he had not yet seen what was said. The two players are grouped together for the opening rounds of the tournament, along with Tommy Fleetwood, setting the stage for potentially awkward on-course discussions.

Beyond the Ryder Cup row, McIlroy reiterated his pessimism about a broader peace deal between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and LIV Golf. Despite acknowledging that relations are less hostile than when LIV launched in 2022, he said the competing sides are now separated by positions that are too entrenched to bridge.

McIlroy, one of the PGA Tour’s most vocal critics of LIV, said any attempt at reunification would require compromises that no party seems willing to make. While he would like to see the best players competing against each other more often than just at the four major championships, he does not believe a full agreement is realistic in the current climate.

His comments come shortly after the PGA Tour allowed Brooks Koepka to return under a limited reinstatement programme, a move that briefly reignited discussion about cooperation between tours. Even so, McIlroy remains unconvinced, concluding that while traditional tours have survived the upheaval, professional golf may have to accept a future where its biggest names only truly come together on a handful of occasions each year.