DUBAI: Rory McIlroy says Bryson DeChambeau would bring “eyeballs” to the European Tour if he decides to accept membership on the circuit following the collapse of LIV Golf.
The breakaway league said last week it was shutting down operations after lead investors BC Partners pulled out because a majority of players had not signed up for LIV Golf 2.0.
Several LIV stars, including Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, have already confirmed that they will play on the European Tour next year.
DeChambeau has not committed to anything and is one of the players seeking to bring BC Partners back to the negotiation table.
Two-time major champion DeChambeau will be able to secure a card on the European Tour thanks to his 2024 US Open triumph, but 2027 is the last year before that privilege runs out.
“I think a name like Bryson DeChambeau, and everything he brings with him, good and bad, he brings eyeballs, which is a good thing for tournaments,” said McIlroy on Tuesday ahead of this week’s Tour Championship in Dubai.
“I’m certainly not in his shoes, and nor would I ever want to be, but it doesn’t seem like he’s got many options. If he wants to play competitive golf, it doesn’t seem like he’s got many options.”
The reigning Masters champion is hoping his envious record at the Earth course will help him win an unprecedented fourth European Tour Championship title and also match Colin Montgomerie’s record of eight Order of Merit crowns on the circuit.
McIlroy arrives at the season-ending event ranked second behind Eugenio Chacarra in the Race to Dubai.
He trails the Spaniard by 533.93 points, but there are 2,000 points available for the champion and a win would guarantee him the season-long title.
McIlroy also has seven top-five finishes in 15 starts in the event.
In the 60 rounds he has played on the course, a staggering 53 of them have been under-par. His worst finish is a tie for 22nd in 2023.
McIlroy felt his experience would give him an edge over Chacarra and the rest of the chasing pack.
The top nine players in the field of 50 have a mathematical chance of winning the Race to Dubai.
“It’s been a course that’s been very good to me over the years, and I have a lot of experience on it, a lot of experience up at the top end of the leaderboard,” said McIlroy, who finished third in Abu Dhabi last week.
“The course has changed and evolved a little bit over the years…
“But when you come back to a golf course that you’ve played a lot on, and you’ve done well on, that always gives you a little bit of an advantage starting the week.
“I’m very excited to be back here, and very excited to be in contention for the eighth. I made some ground up last week, maybe not as much as I wanted, but I felt like it was a step in the right direction.”
Rahm has ‘extra incentive’
Among those chasing Chacarra and McIlroy is Rahm, winner last week in Abu Dhabi, a result that helped him jump to sixth place in the season standings.
Rahm has played only five Tour Championships, but he has won three of them and has never finished outside the top five.
“Coming in with a little extra incentive. I really didn’t think even after winning last week that I was going to have a chance to possibly win the Race to Dubai at all,” said the former world number one.
“Obviously it gives this week a little bit more meaning than it did before.”
The top-10 players in the Race to Dubai, who are not already members, will secure their cards on the PGA Tour. — AFP