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Questions regarding Rory McIlroy joining LIV Golf is all over the internet and fans are left wondering if this is another big name being poached by the breakaway league.
McIlroy, who is currently second in the Official World Golf Rankings, just concluded his Masters tournament at the Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia. Soon after, City AM, a London-based newspaper claimed that two separate sources told it that McIlroy was about to join the LIV Golf.
It was reported that the 34-year-old Irish golfer had finalised an $850 million deal and two percent equity in the Saudi-backed league.
However, Sky Sports News reporter Jamie Weir has claimed the news to be "complete nonsense", writing on X:
"I’m told this story is complete nonsense."
The City AM report claimed that McIlroy would be taking one of the two wildcards available to play in LIV as all the teams were occupied. It said that the news would be announced after the 2024 Masters at Augusta.
Further, when LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman followed McIlroy's group at Augusta, Mcllroy was asked if he saw Norman watching his game, after the first round. McIlroy said:
"I did not. Didn’t see him."
In February, Rory McIlroy's former agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler also gave air to the speculations in an interview with Bunkered where he claimed that McIlroy might be gearing up for a U-turn as he has been one of the biggest critics of LIV Golf so far.
Rory McIlroy recently talked about competing in the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage
After the fourth round at Augusta National, Rory McIlroy was positioned at T22 with a score of 4 over par. McIlroy was among the favourites to win at the Masters with Scottie Scheffler. However, he finished the tournament as T22.
In the post-match conference with the media, including Sportskeeda, McIlory said that he didn't want to dwell on the disappointment of missing out om the Masters but wanted to focus on the PGA Tour's next event, the RBC Heritage, that will take place in South Carolina from April 18 to 21, 2024. McIlroy said:
"I think it's just a matter of me getting my game in a bit better shape going towards the rest of the season. I need to take a little time and reflect on this week and what I did well and didn't do so well, and try to make a plan for the next few months, especially from here to the end of July going through major season."
He also talked about the difficulties he faced at the iconic Augusta National especially on Friday. He said:
"I felt like my game was OK, managed it pretty well. Obviously Friday was a really tough day and losing five shots put me in a pretty difficult position going into the weekend. The conditions were pretty tough."
Rory McIlroy commented on the challenging conditions of the greens as they were crusty and firm which made it hard to score close shots and score birdies. He also said that it was difficult to overcome a seven or eight-stroke deficit going into the weekend at the venue.
Rory McIlroy's performance at Masters over the years
McIlroy's performance at the Masters after his first appearance in 2009 with his finish is as follows:
- 2009: T20
- 2010: -
- 2011: T15
- 2012: T40
- 2013: T25
- 2014: T8
- 2015: 4
- 2016: T10
- 2017: T7
- 2018: T5
- 2019: T21
- 2020: T5
- 2021: -
- 2022: 2
- 2023: -
- 2024- T22
