Recently, Rory McIlroy refuted claims that he received a lucrative proposal from LIV Golf, and Greg Norman, a top executive at LIV, also addressed these speculations.
According to a report by City A.M., a London-based business and financial news outlet, McIlroy was allegedly nearing a deal to join LIV Golf, which supposedly included an offer of $850 million along with a two percent stake in the organization. However, during the RBC Heritage event in Hilton Head, S.C., McIlroy dismissed any such offers, expressing confusion about the origin of these rumors. Norman echoed McIlroy’s statement, emphasizing that no formal proposal had been made. He mentioned that LIV would welcome a discussion if McIlroy ever showed interest.
“LIV never put an offer to him. … This is just typical white noise that gets out there in the industry. If Rory was willing to sit down and have a conversation with us, would we be happy to sit down with him? 100 percent, no different than any other player who would be interested in coming on and playing with us,” Norman said.
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Norman also noted his recent meeting with a highly ranked PGA Tour player who was quite taken with what LIV had to offer, although the player ultimately chose to stay with the PGA Tour. Despite misconceptions, the player acknowledged that the reality of LIV’s offerings differed from his initial perceptions.
McIlroy has been one of the most outspoken critics of LIV Golf, especially when the league began attracting players from the PGA Tour.
His position became more complicated following the announcement of a potential merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a development still pending. Following this, McIlroy stepped down from a significant role within the PGA Tour, though there has been no indication of him considering a move to LIV.
Considering the contract Jon Rahm reportedly signed with LIV last year, the idea of a bigger offer to McIlroy isn’t far-fetched, though it remains speculative as no such offer has been made.