Rory McIlroy now says he’d welcome back LIV defectors to PGA Tour

Rory McIlroy appears ready to welcome back LIV golfers to the PGA Tour. 

The five-time major winner softened his take on defectors to the Saudi-backed golf league during an appearance on “The Overlap” podcast this week.

“They’ve made the money but they’ve paid their consequence when you talk about their reputation and some of the things that they’ve lost by going over there,” McIlroy said. “If it made the overall tour stronger to have Bryson DeChambeau back and whoever else, I would be OK with it. But, it’s not just me, and I recognize that not everyone’s in my position. It would be up to the collective group of PGA Tour members to make that decision.”

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks on the third fairway on day four of the Crown Australian Open 2025 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club on December 07, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. Getty Images

McIlroy, one of the top pro-PGA Tour voices in the sport, admitted that he may have been “too judgmental” with his previous comments about golfers who jumped to the rebel golf venture.

During the conversation, McIlroy still took time to dig at LIV Golf, casting doubt on it’s future.  

“If LIV is failing to capture the imagination and they’ve spent so much money on this venture and it isn’t making a return for them I don’t know how much longer they can keep it going,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy’s comments come after Brooks Koepka, one of LIV Golf’s biggest stars, announced that he was leaving the golf league in 2026 in a “mutually agreed” breakup in what some speculated could be a sign of his impending return to the PGA Tour. 

Rory McIlroy of Boston Common Golf arrives ahead of a match against Los Angeles Golf Club at SoFi Center on January 02, 2026 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. TGL Golf via Getty Images

In 2022, after several big names like DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson, among others, joined LIV Golf, the PGA Tour suspended those who made the jump.

Currently, golfers who play in a LIV Golf tournament face a one-year ban from PGA Tour events from their last appearance.