“I feel like what some people have done has affected the rest of the profession” - Rory McIlroy on formation of LIV

Rory McIlroy recently decided to do the Full Swing documentary for Netflix, which attempts to give fans an inside look at the game of golf and how it is going.

Now could not be a better time for the game to have this happen. In the last couple of years, the game has split with the arrival of LIV Golf and the defection of many star golfers.

Rory McIlroy is firmly on one side of the split and extremely upset with those on the other. He said in the documentary via Balls.ie:

"This is the first year that I've been on the PGA Tour board. Sometimes I think, 'what a time to get involved in all this stuff!' with everything that's happening in the professional game."

He continued, saying he might have gone too hard. He still believes those decisions have harmed the game of golf:

"It's been contentious at times and I have maybe leaned into that part of it a little too much, and made it a little too personal in my mind. But I feel like what some people have done has affected the rest of the profession. I'm just trying to defend what I think is right."

His ire has been directed at a few players recently. What began as a heated and longstanding feud with LIV CEO Greg Norman has evolved.

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Rory McIlroy has developed a major feud with most of LIV Golf

He recently went at it with Patrick Reed, snubbing a greeting on the course and saying:

“I was subpoenaed by his lawyer on Christmas Eve. So of course, trying to have a nice time with my family and someone shows up on your doorstep and delivers that, you're not going to take that well. So again, I'm living in reality, I don't know where he's living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't expect a hello or a handshake.”

He's also upset with a longtime icon of the game Phil Mickelson, who has become the biggest LIV Golf supporter. He said:

"F*** you, Phil. I hope that makes it in."

Mickelson defected to the rebel tour and earned a hefty payday of $200 million just for doing so. He's past his prime, so the money offered was far too much to pass up.

Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson

He knows the league has controversial financial backing, but he isn't too worried about that. For starters, the money is good, but the chance to shake up the game of golf (which they've already done) was even better.

The episode McIlroy stars in also revealed why a few players joined LIV. The money was too much to pass up. For Brooks Koepka, who didn't think he'd ever win on the PGA Tour again, it was a sad but easy decision to defect.

Nevertheless, for whatever reason they have, Rory McIlroy is not pleased with them. That will likely continue as long as LIV is around, and his ire with those particular golfers may last forever.