Rory McIlroy’s 2022 prediction about LIV Golf has aged poorly four years on

It has been four years since Rory McIlroy confidently predicted the future of LIV Golf, only to be proven completely wrong.

It is easy to forget that, four years ago, LIV Golf had not even staged its first event. So much has happened since then.

The 2022 Genesis Invitational at Riviera was partially overshadowed by the reported comments of Phil Mickelson regarding his decision to engage in discussions with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.

Mickelson was not just in hot water with fans. Augusta National reportedly asked him to stay away from The Masters that year over fears his presence would overshadow the first major of the season.

Rory McIlroy’s comments on LIV Golf at the 2022 Genesis Invitational

Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Joaquin Niemann took the title that year, but it was comments from one player who didn’t make the cut and another who wasn’t even in the field that drew much of the attention.

Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson had both been linked with moves to LIV but chose instead to publicly back the PGA Tour.

After his final round, Rory McIlroy was asked whether he thought LIV Golf had been shut down before it even started.

He replied: “Yeah, yeah. Who’s left? Who’s left to go? I mean, there’s no one. It’s dead in the water in my opinion. Yeah, I just can’t see any reason why anyone would go.”

Jon Rahm’s PGA Tour loyalty comments from 2022 Genesis Invitational

Looking back at that period, it is interesting to see how top players reacted to the idea of a new league forming. The amount of money involved was always going to present challenges for the PGA Tour.

One player who seemed to have little interest in making the move at the time was Jon Rahm.

“I made it very clear to my management team to not even bother me with it until this was something that was maybe real and it never came back. The only things I ever heard were from players. To me, again, the only thing you hear is, oh, Bryson got $135 million, this person got $100 million,” he said.

“I already made more money in my life than I ever thought I was going to make, so that’s not the appealing part to me, right? Week in and week out over here you’re playing against the best players in the world. I don’t think the PGA Tour’s a bad product and it’s only going to get better.”

The question of whether LIV Golf could overtake or seriously challenge the PGA Tour has been asked many times over recent years.

LIV Golf appears set for long-term stability now, especially after Anthony Kim’s recent win helped highlight its global appeal.

So McIlroy’s prediction did not pan out as expected, even though the PGA Tour seems to have come through stronger on the other side.

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