“My short answer is No” – PGA Tour pro shares his stance on PIF-PGA Tour deal after Rory McIlroy’s divisive comments

After playing at the Tour Championship, PGA Tour pro Rory McIlroy will be seen competing at the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour. Ahead of the event, McIlroy was part of a press conference in which he mentioned that half of the tour players did not want the PGA Tour-PIF deal to get done.

While McIlroy's comments drew reactions from fans across the globe, PGA Tour professional Michael S. Kim shared a detailed response to Rory McIlroy's comments. On X, Kim spoke about whether he wants the PGA Tour-PIF deal to get done or not.

Kim wrote:

"Do I want a deal? My short answer is No but I don’t care much. Whether the tour and LIV make a deal or not, it will not affect my bottom line. It won’t change my schedule in the slightest bit and won’t change my earnings. This realistically only affects the top 30ish golfers on the pgatour and that they’ll prob make more money after this deal. You can make the argument that if the players come back, it’ll be better for the pgatour, and bring more interest but I find that hard to believe. It’s not gonna be a big mashup, it’s only going to be for a few events with a big purse if I were to guess. How many LIV guys actually affect ratings and events? Phil, Bryson, Rahm? Will it increase ratings and earnings by more than 1%? Sure the first couple events would be cool but after that? I might be totally wrong but that’s my opinion. What’ll make a much bigger difference is how to make the TV product much better."

You can check out Kim's reaction to Rory McIlroy's comment in the tweet below:

In his post, Kim also wrote that people who left and sued the tour must meet with consequences for their decision. While Kim said this could be called petty, he added LIV guys sued the tour for their 'PIP' money. He stressed the fact that it was the PGA Tour that got many LIV Golfers their first big paycheck.

Who is Rory McIlroy paired with in Round 1 of the 2024 BMW PGA Championship?

In Round 1 of the 2024 BMW PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy will be paired with Justin Rose and Ryan Fox. The trio will tee off at the Wentworth Golf Club at 3:40 a.m. ET. Here is a detailed list of the pairings at the 2024 BMW PGA Championship (all times ET):

2:00 a.m. — Calum Hill, Matthew Jordan, Ockie Strydom
2:10 a.m. — Simon Forsström, Alexander Knappe, Adrien Saddier
2:20 a.m. — Rickie Ramsay, Daniel Brown, Nick Bachem
2:30 a.m. — Ugo Coussaud, Simon Thornton, Fabrizio Zanotti
2:40 a.m. — Joost Luiten, Maximillian Kieffer, David Ravetto
2:50 a.m. — Yannik Paul, Jordan Smith, Daniel Hillier
3:00 a.m. — Sam Bairstow, Tom McKibbin, Edoardo Molinari
3:10 a.m. — Danny Willett, Padraig Harrington, Bernd Wiesberger
3:20 a.m. — Harry Hall, Niklas Norgaard, Mark Hubbard
3:30 a.m. — Thorbjørn Olesen, Victor Perez, Peter Malnati
3:40 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Ryan Fox
3:50 a.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Jesper Svensson, Shane Lowry
4:05 a.m. — Matthieu Pavon, Adam Scott, Sepp Straka
4:15 a.m. — Alexander Björk, Ryo Hisatsune, Matteo Manassero
4:25 a.m. — Ewen Ferguson, Laurie Canter, Jorge Campillo
4:35 a.m. — Nacho Elvira, Vincent Norrman, Oliver Wilson
4:45 a.m. — Frederic Lacroix, Dylan Frittelli, Dale Whitnell
4:55 a.m. — Hurly Long, Julien Guerrier, Shubhankar Sharma
5:05 a.m. — Gunner Wiebe, George Coetzee, Louis De Jager
5:15 a.m. — Johannes Veerman, Alejandro Del Ray, Clément Sordet
5:25 a.m. — Chase Hanna, Marcel Schneider, Jayden Schaper
5:40 a.m. — Jens Dantorp, Richard Mansell, Marcus Armitage
5:50 a.m. — Grant Forrest, Ashun Wu, Sean Crocker
6:00 a.m. — Matthew Southgate, Ross Fisher, Paul Waring
6:10 a.m. — Jordan Gumberg, Daniel Gavins, Lukas Nemecz
6:20 a.m. — Dan Bradbury, Todd Clements, Darius Van Driel
6:30 a.m. — Adrian Otaegui, Connor Syme, Matthew Baldwin
6:40 a.m. — Antoine Rozner, Jeff Winther, Matti Schmid
6:50 a.m. — Callum Shinkwin, Joe Dean, Romain Langasque
7:00 a.m. — Marcel Siem, Pablo Larrazábal, Thomas Detry
7:15 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Thriston Lawrence, Francesco Molinari
7:25 a.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Byeong Hun An
7:35 a.m. — Aaron Rai, Nicolai Hojgaard, Billy Horschel
7:45 a.m. — Matt Wallace, Alex Noren, Rasmus Højgaard
7:55 a.m. — Sami Välimäki, Guido Migliozzi, Rikuya Hoshino
8:05 a.m. — Sebastian Söderberg, Luke Donald, Alex Fitzpatrick
8:15 a.m. — Rafa Cabrera Bello, Scott Jamieson, Andy Sullivan
8:25 a.m. — Eddie Pepperell, Jason Scrivener, Santiago Tarrio
8:35 a.m. — Yuto Katsuragawa, Adri Arnaus, Haotong Li
8:45 a.m. — James Morrison, Aaron Cockerill, David Law
8:55 a.m. — Angel Hidalgo, Gavin Green, Andrea Pavan
9:05 a.m. — Jeong Weon Ko, Marcus Kinhult, Daan Huizing

Rory McIlroy will go up against big names like Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, and defending champion Ryan Fox at the BMW PGA Championship. Details regarding Round 2 of the competition will be updated after the conclusion of Round 1.