Rory McIlroy had prevailed as LIV Golf’s biggest critic, but the Northern Irishman appears to still share a good relationship with one of the rival league’s biggest names in Brooks Koepka.
Rory McIlroy demonstrated his sportsmanship at the previous year’s PGA Championship by pursuing LIV Golf sensation Brooks Koepka across a parking lot to offer congratulations on his fifth major triumph.
The two golfers find themselves on opposing sides of the golf world’s conflict between the PGA Tour and LIV. McIlroy firmly declared his allegiance to the Tour, whereas Koepka emerged as one of the prominent figures to transition to the Saudi league in 2022.
McIlroy has been openly critical of the Saudi-funded league and those who decided to join, stating that he would prefer to retire than be a part of the LIV setup.
However, during the PGA Championship at Oak Hill last year, he demonstrated that there was no animosity towards LIV member Koepka, who had won the championship that week. The first episode of Netflix’s Full Swing docu-series season two documented the moment when McIlroy congratulated Koepka behind the scenes.
McIlroy calls out for Brooks as he rushes towards Koepka in the parking lot. After getting his attention, they share an embrace, with the European expressing his happiness for Koepka. The two then part ways, with Koepka telling McIlroy that he will reach out to him later.
Prior to this encounter, McIlroy had been visibly frustrated after failing to secure a major victory once again. His last major win was at the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, and the prolonged drought seemed to be affecting his performance.
Addressing his team in the locker room after last year’s event, McIlroy expressed, “I believe my technique needs a complete overhaul. It seems like the only way I can make a breakthrough. It feels like a distant goal.
“I’m not in a stage of my life where I can commit to those intense two-week bootcamps. I feel confident enough to aim for a top-ten position, but not to win major tournaments.” McIlroy finished the week at Oak Hill with a score of two-under-par, trailing Koepka by seven shots.
The victory held special significance for both players, as Koepka pulled ahead of McIlroy in major titles after winning his first major event in four years. McIlroy expressed his feelings to the Full Swing cameras, saying, “Wow, someone from my generation has more majors than me.
It’s tough not to see myself as one of the top golfers in the world, so when you face challenges like that, you can feel a bit lost.” Recognizing that it was time to step back from the distractions surrounding the Tour and LIV, he acknowledged, “I believe it was a wake-up call for me to refocus on golf for a while.”
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