Rory McIlroy omits name from tomorrow’s media duties at the LACC

The Los Angeles Country Club is set to host the US Open later this summer and ahead of that, Rory McIlroy has declined to talk to the media. He was scheduled to speak with reporters but has since removed his name from the list.

Golf reporter Bob Harig said:

"Rory was scheduled to do media on Tuesday morning at LACC. Name no longer on the list. Would not be surprised if some players shut down questions about the big topic outside the ropes."

Harig believes the reporters, understandably, will try to ask everyone about the recently announced LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger, and he's probably right. That is one of the biggest topics in all of sports, let alone the world of golf right now.

McIlroy was also one of the biggest detractors of LIV. Before the merger, he would rip into the golfers who left and the league itself (especially Greg Norman) whenever he was asked about it.

He's presumably one of the golfers who wasn't too pleased with the merger. Obviously, he's not interested in fielding any questions about it, going so far as to completely remove his name from the media session tomorrow. He won't be able to dodge the media and refuse questions forever, though, but for now, he'd prefer to stay out of the limelight as all of this goes down.

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Rory McIlroy believes those who spurned LIV should be rewarded

There's an interesting debate opening up in the wake of the LIV Golf PGA Tour partnership. There were several golfers who notably turned down LIV and turned down a lot of money in the process.

Rory McIlroy did it and Tiger Woods reportedly turned down close to $1 billion to join. There was apparently no reason not to now that the two have effectively merged.

Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods turned down LIV

The world number three golfer believes those who stayed loyal should be compensated in some way. McIlroy said via The Spun:

"I mean, the simple answer is yes. The complex answer is how does that happen, right. And that's all, that's all a gray area and up in the air at the minute. But, yeah, there is, it's hard to, it's hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I've put myself out there and this is what happens."

"Again, removing myself from the situation, I see how this is better for the game of golf. There's no denying that. But for me as an individual, yeah, I, there's just going to have to be conversations that are had."

Obviously, those who did go to LIV were able to reap the benefits of their signing bonuses, some of which were upwards of $100 million. Now, they can probably return to the PGA Tour with no consequence, so there seems to have been no reason to turn down the Saudis.

Compensating those who didn't defect is more complicated than not, so it may not even happen, but Rory McIlroy believes it would be fair to do so.