Rory McIlroy told by Tour pro: "This is where I fundamentally disagree with you"

English tour pro Eddie Pepperell has outlined why he disagrees with Rory McIlroy as he gave his verdict on the season-ending PGA Tour finale at East Lake.

Ben Smith

03 Sep 2024

English tour pro Eddie Pepperell says he disagrees with Rory McIlroy's stance on how the PGA Tour can create the most entertaining product as he gave a dismal view on the season finale at East Lake.

Scottie Scheffler cruised to victory last Sunday to underline his status as the best men's player on the planet right now.

The golfer won seven PGA Tour events, a second Masters title and an Olympic gold medal.

He was also crowned the FedEx Cup champion for the first time in his career and banked a cool $25,000,000 bonus.

The money, unsurprisingly, was chief of Pepperell's complaints when he discussed the Tour Championship on the latest edition of The Chipping Forecast.

Podcast host Andrew Cotter said he felt as though the commentators during last Sunday's broadcast were trying to inject something that wasn't there.

In other words, the format and the money on the line did not resonate with him.

Watching Scheffler ball his eyes out after he clinched gold in Paris, with no cash on the line, is what the game is truly about.

BBC Sport reporter Iain Carter suggested the bonus money on offer at East Lake was 'the world gone mad'.

Pepperell agreed, adding: "It's not even that it's nonsense, it's just entirely meaningless and, you know, one wonders why we are playing this game.

"And it's a game, let's be honest, what LIV and the PGA Tour are doing is purely game theoretic type stuff.

"And the way you can tell that is no one really wants the outcome and yet it seems like our only choice is to have the outcome we've got, and it's crazy.

"And the game will end up losing (in terms of the sport), I think there'll end up being a pretty catastrophic, at some point, coming down to reality.

"Watching it last night I just felt sorry for the tournament. Because if the tournament had existed on its own two feet as such, it would've actually been quite an entertaining finish because Morikawa, Theegala and Scheffler were all on a similar score.

"The tournament is entirely in service to the season-long race which is crazy because the FedEx Cup as an order of merit, by definition, means the whole season is in service to that and that's how it should be."

Pepperell continued: "And this is why I fundamentally disagree with people like Rory who just constantly, well not constantly, but quite often pertain the importance of entertainment.

"Well, you can't keep catering to a society that finds one thing entertaining this minute and something else the next minute.

"Because if you do, you end up where we are which is entirely lost with a very gimmicky format.

"And I think it would be very wise for the PGA Tour to go back to something that resembles something we all value and that is merit.

"And the season-long race should be based purely on merit and if Scottie Scheffler wins it three weeks out then that is the thing you celebrate because that is what success looks like."

What has Rory McIlroy said about entertainment?

McIlroy outlined his vision for a global tour in February.

He said he thought it would be good idea to create a tour for the top 80 players in the world where 'everyone feeds into that'.

He said the format should be similar to the Champions League.

McIlroy said the PGA Tour needed to accept the fact they are competing with the likes of Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms going forward and the very best players needed to be playing more often.

The Ulsterman did acknowledge the idea, back then, was 'pie in the sky stuff'.

But he added: "You have to make it work for everyone, but I think, for the most part, it has to work for fans and sponsors and media.

"Then, if you can have it work for them, and you create a product that’s really good for the fan, then, honestly, I think you just have to convince the players to buy into it, because that’s what’s going to be the best for them, especially if you're going to be an owner of that tour."