Rory McIlroy: Middle East has to be a component on World Tour
The Northern Irishman has his say on the future of the game
Four-time Dubai Desert Classic champion has reiterated his desire for a World Tour, with events in the Middle East forming a key component of the proposed idea.
Discussions of a newly formed World Tour have picked up in recent months following talks between Public Investment Fund (PIF), the PGA and DP World Tour, as the three organisations look to end the fractures in the game after LIV Golf launched in 2021.
Despite not being a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, after resigning in November last year, the Northern Irishman still has a clear vision for the future of the game.
“It’s all pie in the sky stuff, it's all very -- you know, I think there has to be a component of the southern hemisphere, Australia, South Africa,” McIlroy said.
“There obviously has to be a component of the Far East, whether that be Korea, Japan, and China.
“Obviously, the Middle East as well. We've been going to the Middle East for a long time, but obviously Dubai, Saudi, and then sort of working our way from east to west and back into the United States for the spring and summertime.
“I don't think it will look too dissimilar to what it is right now, but maybe the front end of the year and the back end of the year might look a little different. ”
On paper, it sounds like a perfect idea that would help grow the game across the world and bring together the three major men’s tours once and for all, but how would that fit into the schedule around current events on the LIV Golf League, PGA and DP World Tour?
“I would think it would be one tour,” he said.
“I think you would just create a tour for the top 80 players in the world. I think everything sort of feeds up into that one. You know, the way I look at it, it would be like Champions League in European football.
“It sort of sits above the rest of the leagues and then all those leagues sort of feed up into that and the best of the best play against each other in the Champions League is the way I would think about it.
“I said this at the back end of last year, everyone's got their own interests in this game and that's what happens when you've got quite a fractured landscape at this point.
“So trying to align everyone's interests and trying to convince everyone that this is the right thing to do for the game of golf as a whole, and if you can convince everyone of that, then it would be pretty simple. But right now it's just trying to get everyone singing off the same hymn sheet.”