Rory McIlroy says he does “feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb”

Rory McIlroy was always going to front the media this week as the Canadian Open defending champion.

But of course, since the bombshell news about the golf tour takeover yesterday, it was always going to be about more than the golf this week in Toronto.

Perhaps the two most telling quotes.

“So I think the one thing that I think was really misconstrued last, yesterday was all the headlines were PGA TOUR merges with LIV. And LIV’s got nothing to do with this, right. It’s the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund are basically partnering to create a new company.”

“Whether you like it or not, the PIF were going to keep spending the money in golf. At least the PGA TOUR now controls how that money is spent. So, you know, if you’re thinking about one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world, would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks and you would rather have them as a partner.”