Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy Received 'Promise' After LIV Golf Merger

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 16: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland (L) and Tiger Woods of the United States walk to the 15th tee during the first round of the The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 16, 2023 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) Michael Owens/Getty Images

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy notably declined to join LIV Golf last year, despite being offered massive amounts of money to defect from the PGA Tour.

Following the PGA Tour’s merger with LIV this week, the two golf superstars are in a somewhat difficult situation. Each player denounced LIV while turning down that money, only to see the PGA Tour not hold up its own end of the bargain less than a year later.

The PGA Tour’s commissioner says that both Woods and McIlroy will be “rewarded for their loyalty” to the tour once the merger is finalized.

“Their loyalty will be rewarded,” said commissioner Jay Monahan.

“I’m going to spend every single waking hour as we move forward here, we finalize this agreement and we move into the future, that the players that have created the PGA Tour, have created this pro-competitive, legacy-driven juggernaut, that have articulated and supported the direction that we’re going on…always needs to be rewarded.”

Monahan says that the exact reward for Woods, McIlroy and others has yet to be determined, but noted that it is a priority.

“How that manifests itself is something I’m going to spend a lot of time working on,” Monahan said.

“And I think when we’re having this conversation down the road, that’s something I look forward to being more specific about.”