Rory McIlroy has lashed out at LIV Golf for trying to turn the sport into an “arms race” before its fall from grace.

LIV Golf emerged as a new powerhouse in golf in 2022, drawing some of the world’s best golfers to the previously-Saudi funded breakaway Tour, including the likes of Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau. For years, golf was bitterly divided, with tension on and off the greens.

LIV Golf players faced significant repercussions from the PGA Tour after defecting to the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit, with many suspended from PGA Tour events and losing access to its tournaments and associated benefits.

They also faced the prospect of forfeiting membership, FedExCup eligibility, and opportunities to compete alongside former colleagues, while some encountered criticism from fellow players and fans over their decision to accept lucrative LIV contracts.

The dispute also extended to the DP World Tour, which imposed fines and tournament suspensions on several players, including Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, for competing in LIV events without permission.

Now, four years on, Saudi’s PIF pulled its funding for LIV Golf, plunging the project into disarray. It left players uncertain about their contracts. The league subsequently laid off most of its workforce, canceled events, and filed for bankruptcy protection in September as it searched for new investors.

Several high-profile players began exploring exits, with some considering a return to the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, although strict reinstatement rules and existing contractual commitments complicated their options.

Players like Koepka have already returned, and Rahm has accepted a one-year suspension to return to the PGA Tour. PGA Tour loyalist McIlroy has now dug the knife in further, accusing LIV Golf of plunging the sport into an “arms race.”

He also backed DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings, who told The Scotsman this week that LIV “wanted to destroy us.”

“I agree with everything that Guy said,” McIlroy told reporters here at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship. “They took players, they took sponsors, they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta this year saying they wanted to destroy The European Tour.

“it’s ironic that a week later, now they are talking about ‘completing and not competing’. That’s different from what they were saying at the start of the year. I think everything that’s transpired, a lot of the guys wanted to come back and play the DP World Tour. It puts this tour in a really strong position.

“I know they are working through a new agreement with the PGA Tour post 2027 after the first Strategic Alliance is over or is able to be renegotiated, and I know that things are progressing there and hopefully that will all get done here over, maybe over the next few weeks.

“It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realised they weren’t going to get any return on investment, or they were going to leave the golf space and go invest in something else and invest in something that would actually make them money. I think for long-term sustainability for men’s professional golf, I think we are in a much better spot.”

“It gave players a lot of leverage over the tours, and I don’t necessarily think that’s a good thing for the overall health of the professional game,” he added. “I think there has to be a balance there. There has to be a bit of give and take. I’ve said this from the start, there’s never been a better time to be a professional golfer.

“Talk to Jack Nicklaus or any of these older guys, they would have loved LIV to come around in their day, they would have made more money, and we are all making more money because of it.

“But I do think there has to be a bit of a reset. I’ve talked about this it. They created a false economy within men’s professional golf, and I think that there is going to be a bit of a reset here, which — just for things to be a little bit more sustainable.

“You know, there’s not as much of an arms race as there was maybe a couple of years ago, and some players will argue that that’s not good for players – but I think that’s very short-term thinking.

“If you want sustainable tours, and we want these tours object around in 50 years’ time, there has to be sustainable business practices in place to make sure they are around in 50 years’ time.”