rory-mcilroy Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

PGA finalizes $3B agreement with Strategic Sports Group
The PGA Tour and Strategic Sports Group have finalized a $3 billion deal to create a new for-profit operation called PGA Tour Enterprises. ...

Sorry, but I’m contractually obligated not to take it easy on Rory McIlroy
Golf is so much more fun when the players are petty. From Ryder Cup shenanigans to guys getting pissed about the pace of play, the game is infinitely more entertaining when there’s a clearly defined heel who fans can collectively hate. That’s why the past year-plus of golf was great television. ...

If you’re missing <i>Succession</i>, this PGA Tour-LIV drama isn’t far off
Over the past week in golf, we’ve had stories of a failed coup, back alley dealings with private equity firms, an all-consuming power broker, an uncomfortable media appearance, and merger negotiations on par with anything that happened between Waystar Royco and GoJo. All that’s left for HBO to do is...

Weekend golfers are getting screwed because the PGA's elite are <i>too</i> good
One of the biggest changes in golf came earlier this week, when the USGA and R&A decided to implement a golf ball rollback, changing the way the golf ball travels at all levels of the sport. ...

Screw a PGA Tour card, let me get that tax-exempt status
The recent turmoil on the PGA Tour is enough to give a guy acid reflux, but who can blame them? They tried to concede defeat to the LIV Tour only to spark the government intervention they’d hoped would happen when Greg Norman was poaching their best players, and now that sloppiness and spotlight mig...

US Open pits the face of the PGA against one of LIV's top blood money takers
The merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf Tour doesn’t have to wait long to see some corporate synergy, as one of the PGA’s four major tournaments, the US Open, tees off this week in California. Possibly the biggest cash cow on each side of the debate won’t have to wait long to get reacquainted w...

PGA Tour commish Jay Monahan eating his words after LIV merger
Oh to be in that room when Jay Monahan had to look the players on the PGA Tour in the face on Tuesday. The chainsaw from Scarface couldn’t have cut the tension in that room. A room of the players who weren’t offered hundreds of millions of dollars of Saudi Arabian Money — or worse, were offered but ...

Michael Block killed golf
It’s not a coincidence that the day after Michael Block failed to qualify for the US Open, the PGA Tour panic merged with its alleged arch-nemesis LIV. There was a star vacuum left once Greg Norman and obscene sums of money convinced a lot of big names to defect to the LIV Tour. I don’t have to go t...

It says a lot about the state of golf that Michael Block won the weekend
Michael Block was a godsend for the PGA Tour over the weekend, as the league’s championship was hijacked by Brooks Koepka, and it desperately needed a storyline to distract people from a LIV player winning a major for the time since any of the big names defected. It was only a matter of majors befor...

In the era of offense over everything, golf is trying to zag, and Rory McIlroy is onboard
What would you say if I told you that baseball was capping how far a ball can be hit, basketball decided to negate shots over 30 feet, or the NFL limited how far the football can be thrown in the air? Your first reaction would probably be like mine when I read that Rory McIlroy is on board with the ...

Here's an idea Rory, stop talking about the Saudi Tour
This week on the Real Golf Pros of Saudi Arabia, Rory McIlroy says the feud between the PGA and LIV Golf is “out of control.” The new world No. 1 was asked yet again about the upstart competitor and, as he always does, didn’t shy away from warning fans that this fissure will soon become unfixable — ...

Now that the PGA season is over, the Saudi Tour has the spotlight to itself — D'oh!
The PGA Tour season is over, and the only PGA-sanctioned event left on the calendar is the President’s Cup, which Saudi Tour golfers are ineligible to play. Cam Smith won’t be included, despite qualifying for the international team, and neither will the other five golfers who announced their move a ...

Not everyone listens when Tiger speaks
I’m just going to rip the duct tape off here because to put it delicately would lessen my point: Tiger Woods doesn’t have the moral high ground to tell anybody what to do. He has every authority in every other aspect of the LIV argument — 15 major wins, status in the game, still (kind of) playing, a...

Tiger has the 150th Open Championship 'circled' on his calendar
The British Open, the final major golf championship of the year, doesn’t tee off until Thursday, but it’s already dominating the sports headlines this weekend as 2022’s Tiger Woods comeback and Saudi drama come to a head....

Sundowning GOATS are playing longer than ever, but a changing of the guard is here
Serena Williams’ 2022 Wimbledon lasted longer than her last appearance at the All-England Club. In 2021, she left in tears after slipping on the court and suffering a hamstring injury.. Not having played in a year, her rustiness was evident in her error-prone play and she was promptly escorted off 7...

Another day, another unhinged LIV press conference
In yet another unbelievable press conference for Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf League, fans of the sport received a jaw-dropping master class in bullshit-spewing and question-dodging from Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, and Pat Perez, some of the most recent PGA Tour defectors. I mean, now...

Trouncing LIV Golf may just be the fire Rory McIlroy needs
Rory McIlroy has never been bad — not even close to it — but he has lost his grasp on greatness (or, at the very least, how the sport has chosen to define the word) in the eight years since he last won a major tournament. He’s found continued success on the Tour, racking up consistent wins and high ...

Pro golfers are just like us… sometimes
Ten inches — it was a putt that should have been nothing for the world’s current top golfer, Jon Rahm. But something just went wrong. He didn’t take a full stance, strolling up to the ball on the green to tap it in. The ball traveled about three inches before coming to a stop, turning what would hav...

IDIOT OF THE MONTH: Annex a history book, you dummies
Welcome to Deadspin’s IDIOT OF THE MONTH, our monthly series (hence the name!) in which we make fun of people in and around the sports world. And, boy, are the pastures green this month. But first: an honorable mention!...

Hey, NCAA: Let J.R. Smith play college golf already!
J.R. Smith never played college basketball. He jumped straight from high school to the NBA. Now that his NBA career is over, he’s making an effort to get a college degree. Smith will be attending North Carolina A&T — the largest HBCU in the nation, with just over 12,700 students — which consistently...