SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — A Track Two event, Rory McIlroy says, is “a glorified Korn Ferry event.”
And the PGA Tour setup, before LIV Golf, was “actually pretty good,” he said.
Speaking Tuesday at a pre-U.S. Open press conference at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the six-time major winner said he had concerns over the Tour’s proposed schedule changes, which could take effect in 2028. As first reported by the Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter, the moves could feature the creation of a two-track system — Track One would have 23 elevated events, including the majors and the playoffs, with fields upwards of 120 players, while Track Two would have 20 events and 140-man fields.
A question that has followed is which tournaments would become Track One events, which would attract the Tour’s marquee players and attention; and which tournaments would be deemed Track Two. At his press conference, McIlroy cited the Canadian Open, which was played last week and where he is a two-time winner.
“I guess like at an event — I guess, just recency, an event like last week, the Canadian Open, potentially going to one of these Track Twos — Track Two is a glorified Korn Ferry event,” McIlroy said. “That’s what track two is going to be. So I don’t think the Canadian Open should be one of those.
“Yeah, I just think there’s going to be certain events that might lose their stature if a sponsor doesn’t pony up $30 million. So that’s the tough thing.”
Continuing his answer, McIlroy said he believed the Tour’s format had been OK prior to the start of LIV Golf, in 2022. After that circuit began playing with big purses and no cuts, the PGA Tour adjusted similarly. However, LIV’s future is now in question following news that its primary backer, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, will no longer support it.
“Yeah, it’s funny. Like I think, as they’ve done all this work, you start to realize that the way the Tour was before LIV came along was actually pretty good,” McIlroy said Tuesday. “It was a pretty good structure, and everything sort of worked pretty well.
“LIV created this false economy where we had to up prize funds and had to cut fields and try to support the top players and all that stuff, which I think needed to happen because that was the only way to retain talent at the time, but now that LIV looks like it’s less of a threat, I think, as I said, the old ways of the PGA Tour weren’t actually that bad.”
Notably, LIV’s first-ever event came the same week as the 2022 Canadian Open. Last week, Canadian pros Nick Taylor and Corey Conners also said they were worried about their home country’s Tour stop.
“I’m really passionate about this event,” Conners said. “I care a lot about this event. The Open factor, you know, it’s always been nice to have 21 Canadians, give some young Canadian players an opportunity to play at such an elite event. So definitely I think there’s going to be some changes. Nothing’s been quite decided, but I’m optimistic that the Canadian Open’s going to continue to thrive and hopefully it can continue to be a big part of the PGA Tour and I can continue trying to chase down the trophy.”
