World No 1 Rory McIlroy says he left feeling “betrayed” by former friends and Ryder Cup team-mates Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell when they turned their back on the biennial event to join LIV Golf.
Several of McIlroy’s former Ryder Cup team-mates, including Poulter, Westwood and Garcia who all played alongside McIlroy at Whistling Straits last year, have joined the controversial circuit and it is unclear whether they will be allowed to feature in next year’s event.
Henrik Stenson was earlier this year stripped of Team Europe’s captaincy after joining the Saudi-backed series, and replaced by Luke Donald just a year out from Rome 2023.
“I think it is the first time in my life that I have felt betrayal, in a way,” McIlroy told the Guardian. “You build bonds with these people through Ryder Cups and other things. Them knowing that what they are about to do is going to jeopardise them from being a part of that ever again?
“I would like to think the Ryder Cup means as much to them as it does to me. Maybe it does. But knowing what the consequences could be, I just could never make that decision.”
McIlroy also said that the feud between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Series is “out of control” and that it could leave the game “fractured” for a long time.
The Saudi-backed LIV series lured away some of the PGA Tour’s top members such as Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith with huge sums of money, while those who joined the rebel circuit have been suspended by the US-based circuit.
LIV has filed a lawsuit accusing the PGA Tour of antitrust violations, while the PGA Tour has filed a counterclaim.
“This ‘us versus them’ thing has gotten way out of control already,” McIlroy, one of LIV Golf’s fiercest critics, said.
“If the two entities keep doubling down in both directions, it is only going to become irreparable. We are going to have a fractured sport for a long time. That is no good for anyone.”
McIlroy said players should have tried to resolve their issues with the established tours rather than switching to LIV.
“I feel like the place where they have been able to build their legacy and build their brand, they have just left behind…,” he added.
“If people felt so aggrieved about some things, I’d rather be trying to make those changes from inside the walls than trying to go outside and be disruptive.”
The Northern Irishman also continued his war of words with LIV’s chief executive Greg Norman, with the former world No1 and two-time Open champion accused by McIlroy of using the rebel series to fuel his ‘vendetta’ against the established tours.
“He has basically found people to fund his vendetta against the PGA Tour,” he said. “I think he hides behind ‘force for good’ and all that stuff … this has been his dream for 30 years and he has finally found people who can fund that dream.”