Charley Hoffman has shared how well he gets along with Rory McIlroy more than a year on from his letter to the PGA Tour membership that appeared to criticise the Northern Irishman in particular.
It does appear that brighter times lie ahead for the PGA Tour. There is more than a question mark hanging over the future of LIV Golf. Those at Ponte Vedra now seem to hold almost all of the cards in the game’s civil war.
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But in the early stages of 2025, there was a lot more debate over the best way for the PGA Tour to move forward.
Charley Hoffman reflects on his 2025 letter to the PGA Tour membership that indirectly criticised Rory McIlroy
The likes of Justin Thomas and Charley Hoffman sent lengthy letters to the membership. Hoffman’s letter threatened to ruffle more feathers, with the veteran noting that stars playing on other tours do not help the PGA Tour.
He pointed out that players could not moan about how much they play while also turning up on the DP World Tour and TGL.
The problem was that Rory McIlroy was the one player who ticked every box on that front. Understandably, McIlroy felt that the point was directed squarely at him when asked about Hoffman’s letter after a TGL appearance.
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He did not seem particularly impressed.
Speaking on the Fore Play Podcast, Hoffman opened up on his message to his fellow PGA Tour players, and how he and McIlroy have got along since.
“Rory and I, believe it or not, are on very good terms I think. I speak my mind in what I think and I think I’m very open-minded when it comes down to it. It was a lot of focus at the top players saying they wanted to play less, which is a bunch of BS. They just want to get paid when they play, which I don’t have a problem with by the way. I don’t have an issue with that,” he said.
Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images
“Unfortunately or fortunately depending on who you are, the PGA Tour doesn’t make you play any events. You don’t have to play in a playoff event, you don’t have to play in a signature event, you don’t have to play anything. But we’re lining up sponsors for $20 million. You need participation.
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“So the Delaware group said we want to play less, we want to do this. And it’s like half the guys want to play less, half the guys want to play more. You’re never going to make the whole membership happy, but when people start talking like this is the reason why we’re doing this and then they go on to play the Race to Dubai, which I don’t have a problem with, playing in Australia for the Aussie Open, the reality is for the game of golf, it’s better to play globally. Rory’s taking this game across the world which is amazing. But it’s not the best thing for the PGA Tour.
“So if you’re sitting on the board representing the PGA Tour and you’re saying all these things, but you’re actually supporting the Aussie Tour, the DP Tour and all these other tours, you’re not really supporting the PGA Tour when you’re taking events off that need to be supported because you’ve got sponsorship domestically that need you in the field. So I was just calling that out.”
How PGA Tour players feel about how the product has changed since LIV Golf started
It is going to be fascinating to see how the PGA Tour looks in the coming years. It has already been announced that neither The Sentry or the Sony Open in Hawaii will be on the future calendar in their current forms.
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It is a controversial step. And it also provides an indication of some of the brutal decisions that are to come from Brian Rolapp and the Future Competitions Committee.
Some – particularly those with connections to Hawaii – will not like the move. But speaking about the direction the tour is going in, Hoffman suggested that he is extremely optimistic.
“Obviously TGL was a very strategic move by the PGA Tour. There’s no need to go into depth about that, but the reason why TGL was formed was to keep players here domestically and not to play LIV. It is a league that was formed so that you couldn’t join another league. That’s the reality of TGL. And another way to make money, and it’s great, another way to make money for the players,” he said.
“It’s pretty up front that we’ve made a lot more money since LIV’s come around. It’s been a good thing to be an independent golfer, an independent contractor in the game of golf, no matter which way you went, you made a ton of money. The guys who stayed on the PGA Tour made more money. The guys who went to LIV made more money. Everybody made more money. It sort of trimmed the fat of which way we’re going to go. And who knows where we end up, and obviously a ton of rumours in this last week about what’s going on, but I think the tour is a better product now than it was three years ago, four years ago.”
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The PGA Tour certainly seems to be in a much stronger position than when LIV emerged back in 2022.
And if they have learned from the complacency that opened the door for the breakaway league in the first place, then the PGA Tour has plenty to be extremely excited about.
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