Rory McIIroy says Brooks Koepka's PGA Tour return shows LIV Golf's decline

Masters champion Rory McIlroy believes Brooks Koepka's return to the PGA Tour is indicative of a decline in LIV Golf.

The five-time major winner's swift reinstatement, less than a month after leaving his contract with the Saudi breakaway league a year early, has been widely welcomed by many of the top professionals.

His departure persuaded the PGA Tour to re-write their rules to accommodate him within a specific penalty framework and even offer a window for the likes of fellow big names Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith to return.

McIlroy, whose first competitive round of the year saw him shoot a five-under 66 to lead the Dubai Invitational, said that showed the current state of play.

• Dubai Invitational leaderboard [external site]
• DP World Tour: Latest news, results and headlines
• Got Sky? Watch golf and more LIVE on your phone
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream no contract

"It's not as if they made any huge signings this year, is it?" the Northern Irishman told The Daily Telegraph.

"They haven't signed anyone who moves the needle and I don't think they will.

"I mean, they could re-sign Bryson for hundreds of millions of dollars, but even if they do, it doesn't change their product does it?

"They'll just be paying for the exact same thing. And they've lost Brooks."

2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark also welcomed Koepka's return but admitted his frustration at rejecting LIV in the past.

"I personally really like Brooks, and I think it's ultimately really good for the PGA Tour," Clark said Wednesday on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio. "But also, as a guy who had an opportunity to go to LIV, it's kind of frustrating that he's able to get the cake and also eat it.

"I don't know, I'm very torn because at the end of the day, I want whatever's best for the PGA Tour, and I think if guys come back, especially top players like Brooks, it's only going to help the Tour, which is ultimately going to help me. So yeah, I mean, I don't know really how I feel…

"If you would've told me that I could have gone for a year and a half, make a boatload of money and then be able to come back and play on the Tour, I think almost everyone would have done that."

Mcllroy starts strong in Dubai with new irons

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

McIlroy has switched from blade to cavity-back irons, the type used by the vast majority of amateur golfers as they are more forgiving, for the new season and was happy with the transition at the Dubai Creek Resort.

"If there is help to be had I'll definitely take it. I've been thinking about it for a while," he told Sky Sports.

"I've got a new golf ball in play this week but overall I've liked what I've seen at home and today was a good test for it and I felt everything was pretty good. Overall a nice way to start the year."

McIlroy appeared to get to grips with the new set up immediately as he reached the turn in a five-under 31.

Starting from the 10th he was inches away from an eagle but that set the tone for the first of seven birdies in 10 holes as, with his wedges dialled in, he hit his approaches all inside 11 feet on five par fours.

His only blemishes came with a missed short putt at the 12th and the third, where he failed to escape from the sand having driven into a greenside bunker, but further frustration was to follow as he could only par his way home.

Play was paused midway through the day to remember young golfer Emanuele Galeppini, due to be junior captain at Dubai Creek this year, and the 39 other people who died in a fire in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on New Year's Day.

Scotland's Connoy Syme and Spain's David Puig are one shot behind with England's Matt Wallace, who had an eagle and six birdies in a nine-hole run, in

Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland

Enter Course, City, or Postal Code

Search