‘Rose-tinted glasses’: Rory McIlroy offers strong critique of Jon Rahm’s ‘golden era’ claim

Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm don’t entirely see eye-to-eye on the fractured state of men’s pro golf.

Both stars, who are teeing it up at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic this week, recently gave their assessment of the pro game as we start the 2025 season with a potential PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger still looming.

Rahm acknowledged that he thought things would be “further along” by now, but the two-time major winner is still optimistic about where the pro game stands.

“I think we’re living in a golden era right now for golf where the possibilities are endless,” Rahm said Tuesday in Dubai. “A big tour in Europe and worldwide and a massive tour, the PGA Tour, and you have another big product with LIV, and now you’re even adding the TGL. When it comes to golf, the possibilities are there right now.

“I think with the right minds put together, you can end up with a product, and I’ve been saying this all along, that could put golf at a different level in the world of sport. I’m still hopeful that that can happen.”

On Wednesday, McIlroy responded to Rahm’s “golden era” claim with a more realistic outlook. The four-time major winner understands Rahm’s point but thinks the game’s current issues far outweigh the talent and growth.

“Very rose-tinted glasses if you ask me,” McIlroy said Wednesday of Rahm’s comments.

McIlroy added he’s hopeful that the tumult of the past several years will lead to more opportunities to grow the professional game globally. But McIlroy can’t look past the broken nature of the pro game. In McIlroy’s eyes, the game has to come together for a positive outlook to be warranted.

“There’s amazing players, right,” McIlroy said. “There’s amazing players that play in all different tours and parts of the world and everything, which is great. But at the same time, it’s become too fractured and too disjointed.

“I would share his optimism if the game wasn’t as disjointed and as fractured as it was. Maybe we’ll get to that point sometime in the near future, and if we do, then I would say, I would share that optimism.”

Fittingly, McIlroy was asked a moment later about fellow Norther Irishman Tom McKibbin, who McIlroy considers a friend and protege, potentially jumping to LIV Golf to join Rahm’s team.

McIlroy gave a three-minute answer in which his disappointment was evident.

“I really like Tom as a person, as a player,” McIlroy said. “I think he’s got a ton of potential. Look, I said to him, if I were in your shoes, I would make a different choice than the one you’re thinking of making.

“I think what he potentially is sacrificing and giving up with access to majors, potential Ryder Cup spot, depending on, you know, how he would play. … Look, I don’t think anything is official yet. But if I were in his position and I had his potential, which I think I have been before, I wouldn’t make that decision. But I’m not him. I’m not in his shoes. He’s a grown man at this point and can make his own decisions. All I can do is try to give him my perspective.”

McIlroy is hopeful that McKibbin, who hasn’t publicly made a decision yet, will reject the offer to move to LIV and continue his golf ascent on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. In McIlroy’s view, a move to LIV has far more negatives for a budding star like McKibbin.

“It would be a little disappointing if it were to happen, but again, it’s not — I made it perfectly clear: I am not going to stand in your way if you need to make the decision you feel like you need to make for yourself,” McIlroy said. “But at the same time, I feel like he’s giving up a lot to not really benefit that much.”