LIV Rebel “remains very close” to Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry despite golf’s biggest scandal in history  

When the breakaway series LIV Golf was launched, PGA Tour golfers like Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry became some of the biggest spokespersons against them. Despite playing on two different professional tours, Graeme McDowell, who joined the league in 2022, shared that he still “remains very close” to the other two golfers mentioned above.

After almost a year of clashes between the two golf circuits, they announced a merger to create a bigger golf enterprise with no differences and better stability. Amidst this, McDowell revealed that he is still close with the two PGA golfers, however, they have not seen each other in a while due to scheduling issues, as BBC quoted, he said,

"Myself, Rory, and Shane are very close and remain very close and have done through this process. I haven't seen the guys so that's the problem because of the way the schedules are."

Graeme McDowell shared that, despite sitting on two different seats, they have remained in contact and always look out for each other. He said,

"I've been in one part of the world but remain in contact, always looking out for them and always pulling for both of them and I think the same from their side as well."

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell (via Getty Images)

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"It's two-fold for the game of golf" - LIV rebel Graeme McDowell speaks on discussing the PGA Tour-PIF merger with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry

After the shocking announcement of the merger deal between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and PIF (the financers of LIV Golf) came out, players associated with these golf circuits had mixed reactions.

However, Graeme McDowell revealed that he sat down with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry and spoke about the merger. He shared that they were positive about the deal, as quoted by BBC, he said,

"It was great to see them and we're all positive about hopefully where the game of golf is going to go because I don't think anyone wanted the last 15 months of negativity."

Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell (via Getty Images)

McDowell shared that the PGA Tour-PIF merger is 'two-fold for the game of golf'. According to him, the positive side was more people speaking about golf,

"It's two-fold for the game of golf. On the upside the game of golf has never had so many eyeballs and so many people talking about it, positive or negative, so, that's the upside how much in the public eye our game has been," said McDowell.

Later on, he shared the downside of the deal that, in terms of money, has described it as 'sports washing'. He said,

"But the downside is the negativity and the talk about money and terms like 'sportswashing' - and just a lot of things that are dragging the game of golf down from a negative point of view."

Whatsoever the case is, Graeme McDowell is happy to remain close with his buddies Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. According to him, all three golfers are positive and hopeful of the merger deal for the betterment of golf in the future.