Rory McIlroy reveals how often the best golfers should compete against each other amid PGA TOUR & LIV negotiations

After a great start to the 2025 season, Rory McIlroy is competing at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. McIlroy, 35, started the season with a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and top-20 finishes at The Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Ahead of The Players Championship, which is currently being played, McIlroy was part of a press conference in which he spoke about how often the best golfers in the world must compete against each other. When asked what number would please the fans, McIlroy said:

"You'd have to ask the fans. I don't know."

Rory McIlroy added, "I would say it's more than four, and it's probably -- my thing is for golf to stay where it is and be relevant, it needs to be -- like say we're trying to go for this -- the worldwide, it's a year-round calendar. It's got to be once a month if not more. I think 12 times a year or maybe a smidge higher than that I think would be a good number."

McIlroy's comments come amid the PGA Tour working alongside PIF for a merger with LIV Golf. However, it's worth noting that until now there has been no significant development about this merger.

But, it's worth mentioning U.S. President Donald Trump is now actively participating in these merger talks. It will be interesting to see whether these tours can come together.

What time will Rory McIlroy tee off in Round 1 of The Players Championship 2025?

In Round 1 of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, Rory McIlroy will tee off at 1:29 PM. The Northern Irish golfer will be paired with Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele in this round. Here is a detailed look at the tee time and pairings for Round 1:

1st tee

7:40 a.m.: Chad Ramey, C.T. Pan, Vince Whaley
7:51 a.m.: Joel Dahmen, Patrick Rodgers, Chan Kim
8:02 a.m.: Beau Hossler, Mark Hubbard, Ben Silverman
8:13 a.m.: Rafael Campos, Davis Riley, Gary Woodland
8:24 a.m.: Joe Highsmith, Brian Campbell, Matt McCarty
8:35 a.m.: Patton Kizzire, Lucas Glover, Corey Conners
8:46 a.m.: Sahith Theegala, Matt Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris
8:57 a.m.: Davis Thompson, Stephan Jaeger, Tom Hoge
9:08 a.m.: Aaron Rai, Cam Davis, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
9:19 a.m.: Robert MacIntyre, Max Homa, Sungjae Im
9:30 a.m.: Nate Lashley, Will Gordon, Rico Hoey
9:41 a.m.: Alejandro Tosti, Isaiah Salinda, Aldrich Potgieter
12:45 p.m.: Doug Ghim, Ryan Fox, Sami Valimaki
12:56 p.m.: Andrew Putnam, Charley Hoffman, Denny McCarthy
1:07 p.m.: Daniel Berger, Min Woo Lee, Rasmus Hojgaard
1:18 p.m.: Harris English, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose
1:29 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele
1:40 p.m.: Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood
1:51 p.m.: Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay
2:02 p.m.: Nick Dunlap, Akshay Bhatia, Tom Kim
2:13 p.m.: Harry Hall, Chris Gotterup, Si Woo Kim
2:24 p.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Matt Kuchar, Adam Hadwin
2:35 p.m.: Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Mac Meissner
2:46 p.m.: Max McGreevy, Ryan Gerard, Frankie Capan III

10th tee

7:40 a.m.: Lanto Griffin, Andrew Novak, David Lipsky
7:51 a.m.: Keith Mitchell, Justin Lower, Nicolai Hojgaard
8:02 a.m.: Michael Kim, Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens
8:13 a.m.: Maverick McNealy, Brian Harman, Tony Finau
8:24 a.m.: Ludvig Aberg, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas
8:35 a.m.: Russell Henley, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland
8:46 a.m.: Wyndham Clark, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth
8:57 a.m.: Thomas Detry, Sepp Straka, Nick Taylor
9:08 a.m.: J.T. Poston, Seamus Power, Mackenzie Hughes
9:19 a.m.: Chris Kirk, Luke List, Adam Svensson
9:30 a.m.: Bud Cauley, Matti Schmid, David Skinns
9:41 a.m.: Hayden Springer, Jesper Svensson, Will Chandler
12:45 p.m.: Henrik Norlander, Victor Perez, Ben Kohles
12:56 p.m.: Eric Cole, Ben Griffin, Max Greyserman
1:07 p.m.: J.J. Spaun, Jacob Bridgeman, Chandler Phillips
1:18 p.m.: Emiliano Grillo, Byeong Hun An, Adam Schenk
1:29 p.m.: Taylor Pendrith, Peter Malnati, Kurt Kitayama
1:40 p.m.: Brice Garnett, Matthieu Pavon, Camilo Villegas
1:51 p.m.: Austin Eckroat, Jake Knapp, Taylor Moore
2:02 p.m.: Nico Echavarria, Kevin Yu, Erik van Rooyen
2:13 p.m.: Karl Vilips, Sam Burns, Cameron Young
2:24 p.m.: K.H. Lee, Carson Young, Patrick Fishburn
2:35 p.m.: Trey Mullinax, Ryo Hisatsune, Laurie Canter
2:46 p.m.: Kris Ventura, Kevin Roy, Jackson Suber

About the author

Varun is a Golf and MLB journalist for Sportskeeda with over 4 years of work experience in his bag. Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he worked for many sites, including EssentiallySports, FanSided, Khel Now, Get Football, and a few others.

Varun is a fan of golfer Scottie Scheffler due to the latter’s mindset, and he admires Aaron Judge and his ability to keep being consistent. As a purist golf fan, he would love to compete at the Masters if given the opportunity, but is also happy with LIV Golf driving more eyeballs towards the sport. If he gets the chance to play for an MLB team, he would love to play for the New York Yankees.

Varun’s mantra for writing factually correct feature articles is thorough verification. Another key element in his writing is staying updated with both sports through the official websites of pro wrestling and Golf. He has had the privilege of interviewing MMA legend Greg Jackson in his career so far.

Varun likes to spend his free time reading or writing poetry and fiction. He also plans to learn and play golf in his spare time.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl