Rory McIlroy has been praised by friend and rival Billy Horschel for his honesty after performing a dramatic U-turn on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf rebel tour

Rory McIlroy (right) has earned Billy Horschel’s respect for his LIV Golf U-turn (Image: Getty)

Billy Horschel has hailed Rory McIlroy’s honestly following his surprise U-turn on LIV Golf.

The Northern Irishman was one of the most vocal critics of the Saudi-funded rebel tour which plunged golf into a civil war when it launched in 2022. McIlroy said he “hated” LIV and that he would retire “if LIV Golf was the last place to play golf on earth”.

In the middle of 2023, he was among the players taken aback when the PGA Tour confirmed a “framework agreement” with LIV’s backers over a potential merger, which is still to come to pass. The four-time major winner then dramatically softened his own stance on LIV, “accepting” that the tour was “part of our sport now”. McIlroy even said he would be interested in competing in a LIV-backed tournament.

McIlroy’s reversal raised plenty of eyebrows across the game, but Horschel has backed his friend and rival with wholesome praise. The American, who defeated McIlroy in play-off at the recent BMW PGA Championship, told Golf, by TourMiss: “The great thing also about Rory is that he’s always been pretty honest with everyone.

“He says things as he sees them and while he’s changed his mind about what is continuing in the bigger picture in men’s golf, I don’t fault him for it. So, I found myself applauding him for changing his views and listening to him. There is not many guys in the game of golf better than Rory.”

Meanwhile, McIlroy believes the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and a split between players on both sides pose the biggest hurdles to a final peace deal in golf. McIlroy welcomed the optimism about finally agreeing a deal, which emerged from recent discussions in New York.

But he accepts any such deal will be subject to scrutiny from the DOJ. Asked what the biggest stumbling blocks to a deal were, McIlroy replied: “Department of Justice. Maybe different interests from the players’ side.

Rory McIlroy (left) and Billy Horschel are friends and rivals ( Image: (Image: Getty))

“I’d say maybe half the players on LIV want the deal to get done, half probably don’t. I’d say it’s probably similar on the PGA Tour. Because just like anything, everyone’s looking out for themselves and their best interests. It would benefit some people for a deal not to get done, but it would obviously benefit some people for a deal to get done.

“I think when you have a members-run organisation it complicates things a little bit, especially when some of those players are having to make decisions on the business side of things. I think the tours want it to happen.

“The investors certainly want it to happen because they can see the benefit for themselves. It seems like the people that are really making the decisions are all rowing in the same direction, which is a really good thing [but] even if they are all rowing in the same direction, it still doesn’t mean that a deal may get done because it’s just a very complicated set of circumstances. But from what I hear there’s optimism there, and that’s good to see.”

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