Rory McIlroy finds himself in a field that includes several LIV Golf players at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews, and once again he didn’t hesitate to express his thoughts on the Saudi-backed upstart circuit.

McIlroy told reporters the LIV continues to create a divide across the sport – and that divide isn’t beneficial for any of the parties involved.

“I don’t want a fractured game. I never have. You look at some other sports and what’s happened and the game of golf is ripping itself apart right now,” McIlroy said.

“It’s no good for the guys on, you know, this side or the sort of traditional system and it’s no good for the guys on the other side, either. It’s no good for anyone. There is a time and a place for it. I just think right now, with where everything is, it’s probably not the right time.”

Things are even starting to heat up in court, as multiple golfers challenged bans they had received from other tours for participating in an LIV event.

“I’ve always said I think there is a time and a place where everyone that’s involved here should sit down and try to work together,” McIlroy said. “It’s very hard for that to happen right now when there’s two lawsuits going on.”

Those on the LIV circuit have also been adamant they should receive points from the Official World Golf Ranking, something  McIlroy doesn’t necessarily see any problems with considering a number of talented golfers are associated with the LIV.

But with the LIV playing three rounds – only 54 holes – at each tournament while the PGA Tour plays four rounds, McIlroy said there needs to be some sort of compromise if that’s going to happen.

“You can’t make up your own rules. There’s criteria there, everyone knows what they are and if they want to pivot to meet the criteria they can,” McIlroy said.

“I certainly have no problem with them getting ranking points at all. But you just have to meet the criteria, and if you don’t meet the criteria, it’s going to be hard to justify why you should have them.”