Rory McIlroy Reveals Trump is Secretly Against Saudi-Backed Golf League — Despite Hosting its Tournaments on His Courses

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Professional golfer Rory McIlroy revealed that President Donald Trump actually isn’t a big fan of the current iteration of LIV Golf.

The Saudi-backed golf league diverts significantly from the average PGA Tour tournament. The LIV roster, for example, is split into teams of four players. A tournament weekend typically consists of singles matches and two-on-two matches. Throughout the PGA Tour season, players primarily compete individually.

Last week, the PGA announced that Trump had gotten involved in the tour’s ongoing discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — which owns and operates LIV Golf — to bring the rival tours together. Although Trump’s exact role has not been revealed, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan claimed in a statement that Trump has helped them get closer to finalizing a deal.

In a recent progress, McIlroy revealed that he went golfing with Trump “a few weeks ago.” During that time on the green, he learned that, despite Trump’s golf clubs hosting multiple LIV events, the president isn’t really a team of the team format.

“It was great,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, it was really good. It was really good. I thought we had a good discussion. I learned that he’s not a fan of the LIV format. I was like, ‘But you’ve hosted their events.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, but it doesn’t mean that I like it.’ So I think he’s — he’s on the Tour’s side.”

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