Catty McIlroy shakes the rust off in Dubai

Grand Slam man has sharp words regarding LIV and Koepka's PGA Tour homecoming

Rory McIlroy tied third at Dubai Invitational after Sunday charge falls short (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy provided some fireworks on and off the course at his 2026 season debut in the Dubai Invitational, sizing up the LIV Golf situation in the wake of Brooks Koepka’s departure then rattling off five consecutive birdies on Sunday only to come up short of victory.

The reigning Masters champion has made a tradition of starting the year in the Middle East, and is doing so with consecutive tournaments in Dubai. As defneding champion at Dubai Creek Resort, he ended up tied for third behind winner Nacho Elvira despite a Sunday charge into a five-way tie atop the leaderboard that included Shane Lowry.

Earlier in the week, McIlroy gave his thoughts to The Telegraph’s James Corrigan in the wake of Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour from LIV.

McIlroy’s assessment was blunt.

“It’s not as if they made any huge signings this year, is it?” McIlroy said. “They haven’t signed anyone who moves the needle and I don’t think they will. I mean, they could re-sign Bryson (DeChambeau) for hundreds of millions of dollars, but even if they do, it doesn’t change their product, does it? They’ll just be paying for the exact same thing. And they’ve lost Brooks, so they’ll be paying out all this money and ...”

While LIV Golf did announce that it has signed several players — including top-60 in the Official World Golf Ranking Thomas Detry who won the WM Phoenix Open last year — the controversial circuit has not landed a huge name since Jon Rahm jumped two years. It did re-sign Dustin Johnson and got commitments from Rahm, DeChambeau and Cam Smith to remain in 2026 despite the welcome mat being rolled out to them by the PGA Tour’s acceptance of Koepka’s return.

Getting Australia’s Elvis Smylie is a nice addition to the all-Australian Ripper team captained by Smith. And so, too, is Ben An, who will replace the unceremoniously dumped Kevin Na as captain all of the all-Korean team.

Earlier, European’s Victor Perez and Laurie Canter also joined the league, which enters its first season next month in Saudi Arabia.

But none those players on their own are not changing the fortunes of the Saudi-backed enterprise that has racked up billions in losses. The 14-event worldwide schedule might be pleasing to many in places where they are deprived of big-time players on a regular basis, but it has barely made a dent in the United States, where TV ratings are miniscule and the necessary funding via media rights is simply not happening.

Just before Christmas, Koepka announced he was leaving LIV Golf with the league’s blessing after four years. The split was called “amicable” and it’s unclear if Koepka needed to repay any of the nine-figure up front money he was paid in 2022. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said last week those details would not be disclosed.

On Jan. 9, the PGA Tour announced that Koepka had reapplied for membership, with his status regained quickly with another announcement on Jan. 12 that will see him debut next week in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

None other than Tiger Woods, a staunch critic of LIV Golf, hailed the move to bring Koepka back. As a member of both the PGA Tour Policy Board and PGA Tour Enterprises board, Woods had a role in creating the return policy.

“That says a lot about the PGA Tour, where we’re headed, what we have done, what we accomplished and the players who have stayed and who have supported the tour,” Woods said. “Having another world-class player that these guys are going to try and beat, that’s what the fans demanded. That’s what the fans wanted for our fan initiative program, and I think we’ve addressed that.”

The PGA Tour also said that DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith could return under the same rules if they did so by Feb. 2. None are expected to do so, but DeChambeau’s contract is up after this year and he finds himself with a good bit of leverage.

“A lot of these guys’ contracts are up,” McIlroy said. “They’re going to ask for the same number or an even bigger number. LIV have spent $5 billion or $6 billion, and they’re going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are.

“Look, I’m way more comfortable being on the PGA Tour side than on their side, but who knows what will happen.”

McIlroy has said several times that the PGA Tour needs to bring back LIV players who want to return and put aside any ill feelings.

“This is great as it gets Brooks back to where he belongs,” McIlroy said. “He is one of the best players in the world and anything that makes the traditional tours stronger is a good thing in my book.”

McIlroy won’t see him on tour right away. Koepka is not eligible for the first signature event at Pebble Beach (where McIlroy is defending champion and will make his 2026 PGA Tour debut) unless he qualifies via the Aon 5/10 points pathways or wins at Torrey Pines or the WM Phoenix Open.

Koepka can’t get sponsor invites to the signature events, won’t be able to earn FedEx Cup bonus money, is denied equity grants for five years — which, for now, is just money on paper — and was fined $5 million to charity.

But Koepka can play for the purses, and if he gets his game back after a difficult 2025, the five-time major champion will do just fine.

As for McIlroy, he’s now down the road to this week’s Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

“Overall it was a good first week back,” he said of his performance in the Dubai Invitational. “I felt like I learned a lot of stuff about my game. I wasn’t very sharp, but hopefully I’m a little bit sharper going into next week than I was going into this week, I guess.”