Ever since its inception, Rory McIlroy has been a staunch hater of LIV Golf. And while the merger has softened his tone, his feelings toward some of the defectors remain the same. The PGA Tour loyalist on previous many occasions has highlighted that he has no concern for defector Phil Mickelson.

And now as he prepares for the Ryder Cup, McIlroy has still found the time to take another dig at Mickelson. However, the strategy he is employing this time is different from what he has been using. This time he rather chose to ignore Mickelson.

Rory McIlroy implies a different strategy against Phil Mickelson

Rory McIlroy has always been the unofficial spokesperson from the PGA Tour side on the matter of LIV Golf. And never has he missed any opportunity to blame them for breaking the Tour. His resentment against Mickelson, who joined the Saudi league soon after speaking against it, is very public.

He reiterated his feelings once again with his latest guest appearance on Golf.com’s podcast Subpar. On the show, the host stated McIlroy has been the PGA players’ spokesperson. He has put a lot of time, effort, and energy into this. Would he do it again?

To this, the Irishman replied, “LIV coming along was a catalyst to the PGA Tour. Basically what I wanted to do was to keep all the best players in golf together more often. This is what golf needs. There is there’s some great players over on LIV that I wish I could see more often to play against more often.”

Then he named players. “Brooks Cam Smith, DJ, you know, whoever else obviously Bryson’s coming back into the forum, there’s, you know, there’s, there’s a few guys over there that you missed competing against, like, that sucks.” While talking about the defectors, McIlroy smoothly excluded Mickelson from the list of the players he has missed playing with. 

Also Read – With Only Weeks Left for the Andalucia Showdown, Rory McIlroy’s Mind Is at Ease; Thanks to This ‘Absolute Stud’

McIlroy poked fun at Mickelson after Ryder Cup gambling allegations

In the podcast, he said that he doesn’t like that the game is fractured. If all the deals with LIV and PIF could be done the right way, then all the best players could come together and the game would be less fractured. And though he didn’t name anyone in particular, he appears to hold Mickelson responsible for creating a big rift. Last month after the Ryder Cup gambling allegations against Mickelson came to light, Rory took a jibe at him saying: “At least he can bet on the Ryder Cup this year because he won’t be a part of it.”

It is clear that the Irishman has no warm feelings toward his nemesis. Good for him that he doesn’t have to face Mickelson this year in Rome. Instead, there will be Koepka from the LIV team representing the US.

Watch this story – Despite being with LIV Golf for a year, Phil Mickelson successfully dominates the PGA Tour with his earnings and is behind only one golfer now