Rory McIlroy at odds with British golf icon as PGA Tour rule torn apart | Golf | Sport
Rory McIlroy has been criticized for his comments about the PGA Tour and DP World Tour’s strategic alliance (Image: Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy is a staunch advocate of the PGA Tour’s strategic partnership with the DP World Tour, but Masters champion Ian Woosnam believes the arrangement is undermining the European circuit. The tours have deepened their relationship since the LIV Golf split, with the PGA Tour making financial commitments to its European equivalent.
In exchange, the top 10 players in the DP World Tour’s annual Race To Dubai, who are not already exempt, are granted a PGA Tour card. McIlroy is a vocal supporter of the deal, and he praised Kristoffer Reitan’s triumph at the Truist Championship last week.
The Norwegian, who stands to inherit a multi-billion-pound fortune, was amongst the 10 players who secured PGA Tour status for this season, and he underlined his credentials by claiming one of the tour’s most prestigious titles at Quail Hollow.
The Hojgaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai, Bob MacInyre and Marco Penge are also amongst the players who have benefited from the agreement, but 1991 Masters champion and 29-time European Tour winner Woosnam believes the DP World Tour’s talent pool is being depleted, leaving the organisation in a vulnerable position.
“Amazing that the DP [World] Tour loses the very best 10 players every year, weakening the tour,” the Welshman wrote on social media.
“How does the DP Tour bring in sponsorship for tournaments when losing the players? What really is the DP Tour now, a feeder tour for the PGA Tour? Wow.”
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There is little question that the strategic partnership produces emerging talents who have risen from the DP World Tour, competing in the majority of their golf across the Atlantic, yet advocates contend that it enhances the promotional appeal of those players upon their return during the autumn and winter months.
Woosnam’s remarks followed McIlroy’s celebration of Reitan’s victory and the collaboration between the tours, which is expected to be prolonged through 2032.
Ian Woosnam has disagreed with Rory McIlroy. (Image: Getty Images)
McIlroy, a staunch advocate of the DP World Tour, said: “It speaks to the incredible pathway the DP World Tour players have to get their cards. You get your PGA Tour card out of that, play your way into the Signature Events, and then it’s the system working.
“You know, it’s the meritocracy. It’s that upward trajectory that you can get on whenever you – when you play well and you shoot the scores. And Kristoffer last week is a prime example of that.”
McIlroy is competing this week at the PGA Championship, which got underway at Aronimink Golf Club on Thursday. His preparations have been disrupted by a troublesome blister on his right pinky toe, which prompted him to remove the nail entirely.
And he struggled in his opening round, carding four over.
This article first appeared on Mirror US.
