Rory McIlroy put forward the view that players who joined LIV Golf would have a path back to the PGA Tour once 2027 arrives. Prior to his Tuesday slot at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, McIlroy had been in New Delhi, taking part in the DP World Tour's India Championship.

When asked whether he would welcome back LIV Golf players choosing to exit the venture as it moves into a restructured format following the loss of Saudi Arabian backing, McIlroy answered in the affirmative. He told reporters that having those players return would serve the commercial interests of the Tours and that a stronger collective field benefits everyone involved. He added, however, that unconditional re-entry is not straightforward, pointing to Jon Rahm — who has already committed to departing LIV Golf ahead of next season and intends to compete on the DP World Tour as a route to regaining his PGA Tour card — as an example of the complexity involved. McIlroy also noted that both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour operate as membership organisations whose leadership would need to put the question to their members, given that players who remained throughout the split may consider it unfair if those who left are permitted to return without conditions attached.

McIlroy stated that welcoming those players back onto the Tour also carries clear commercial value, and that higher revenues, if achieved, would distribute gains across all involved parties.

LIV Golf has been navigating a path forward following a season that presented a range of obstacles. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia chose not to extend further financial support to the tour — having directed an estimated $5 billion or more toward it — while LIV Golf sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the weeks prior. BC Partners has pledged over $300 million toward the restructured league, widely referred to as "LIV 2.0," with that financial backing tied to the fulfilment of specific conditions.

From the earliest days of LIV Golf's existence, McIlroy positioned himself as one of the tour's more outspoken critics. He offered an assessment of LIV Golf's trajectory, describing the venture as built on a concept that was only partially sound and carried out without the strategic discipline its financial backing warranted. He suggested that a working arrangement with some of the sport's official governing bodies had represented one avenue open to the organisation. McIlroy also argued that the funds could have been directed toward more worthwhile purposes rather than supplementing the earnings of tour professionals who were already well-compensated.

Those comments come as a number of prominent golfers have departed from LIV Golf or indicated plans to do so. Among those leaving, Rahm stands out as the most prominent name. Patrick Reed, after departing LIV Golf at the start of the year, has spent the current season competing full-time on the DP World Tour with the aim of reclaiming his PGA Tour membership. Sergio Garcia's contractual ties to the organisation have also been brought to an end.

The DP World Tour announced on Monday that conditional membership for golfers taking part in LIV Golf's 2027 season will not be made available. Under the arrangement now taking effect, LIV Golf players no longer retain a conditional foothold on the European tour — a provision that had been in place across recent seasons. Eligibility for a spot on the Ryder Cup roster requires that players from Europe maintain active membership in good standing with the DP World Tour.

How the golf landscape will look by 2027 — including whether LIV Golf endures and which events attract the sport's leading players — remains an open set of questions that the next several months will begin to address.

McIlroy noted that the dispute over the sport's direction had created distance between him and some former European Ryder Cup teammates, though he expressed the view that a disagreement of that nature was not, in his opinion, sufficient grounds for ending those friendships. He said contact between them had simply faded away over time, with the tournaments on the schedule differing, Ryder Cup eligibility absent, and a path into the major championships closed off to those who had joined LIV Golf. McIlroy observed that geographic and social distance can gradually erode the connections people once held with those from different communities.