Rory McIlroy feels Premier Golf League would spark PGA Tour changes

Rory McIlroy believes proposals for a new $240 million Premier Golf League featuring the best players in the world could be just the kick up the backside the PGA Tour needs. 

News broke over the weekend via golf journalist Geoff Shackelford that the World Golf Group has announced its structure for a new professional Tour - the Premier Golf League - comprising of 18 annual events for the world’s top 48 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.

"I love the PGA Tour, but they definitely, these guys have exploited a couple of holes in the system the way golf at the highest level is nowadays and how it’s sort of transitioned from a competition tour to entertainment,” said McIlroy, who finished in a tie for third at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Sunday.

"It’s on TV, it’s people coming out to watch. It’s definitely a different time than what it was before."

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According to Shackelford's report, the Premier Golf League said in a statement: "We would like to say that it is our intention to work with, rather than challenge, existing tours for the betterment of golf as a sport, pastime and media property."

Under current plans, it is estimated each of the tournaments under the Premier Golf League would stump up $10 million, with the total purse reaching $240 million. 

"It might be the catalyst for something a little bit different out here as well, who knows," said World No.2 McIlroy.

"I certainly wouldn’t want to lose what’s been built in the last 40 or 50 years, tournaments like Riviera in a couple weeks’ time.

"I’m still quite a traditionalist, so to have that much of an upheaval in the game I don’t think is the right step forward."