The agent for Rory McIlroy dismissed rumors of a pending move to LIV Golf for $850 million, calling it “fake news” Tuesday.
“Fake news. Zero truth,” agent Sean O’Flaherty told the Irish Independent in an email.
O’Flaherty was responding to a sourced report by City A.M., a London financial paper, that said McIlroy, the No. 2 player in the world, “could” make the jump to LIV Golf from the PGA Tour after an offer of $850 million and “about 2 percent equity in the competition.”
McIlroy, 34, had been one of the most prominent critics of the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit since it launched in 2021, but then described himself as the PGA Tour’s “sacrificial lamb” when it announced a partnership with LIV Golf in June 2023.
LIV Golf lured then-world No. 3 Jon Rahm into its ranks in December with a deal reportedly worth more than $350 million.
In February, McIlroy’s former agent fueled speculation that the Northern Irishman was possibly softening his stance toward LIV Golf.
“If you were being cynical, you might say he’s going to sign for about 750 million [pounds] in a month’s time with LIV because he’s paving the way that LIV’s OK now, whereas it wasn’t,” Chubby Chandler said then, according to the Irish Independent.
“He doesn’t need 750 million [pounds] but it’s odd what he’s done and I’m sure it’s a possibility. If he does it or not, I don’t know, but if Rahm can do it, most guys can do it.”
McIlroy finished in a tie for 22nd at the Masters on Sunday, 15 strokes behind winner Scottie Scheffler. The four-time major champion has not won a Grand Slam event since the 2014 PGA Championship.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.