マキロイ、ノーマン氏は「去るべきだ」　ＰＧＡとリブの和解へ見解

【ドバイＡＦＰ＝時事】男子ゴルフ、世界ランキング１位のロリー・マキロイ（北アイルランド）が１５日、米ツアーとリブゴルフ・インビテーショナルが交渉の席につき、激しい争いを終わらせるには、リブゴルフの最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）を務めるグレッグ・ノーマン氏が去るしかないと話した。（写真は男子ゴルフのロリー・マキロイ。資料写真）
　メジャー４勝を挙げているマキロイは、アラブ首長国連邦（ＵＡＥ）のドバイで、対立する両陣営が和解する可能性はあるかと問われると、「いくつかのことが起こる必要があると思う」と答えた。
　「現時点で、２件の訴訟が行われているのは明白だ。米ツアー対リブゴルフと、（来年）２月にはＤＰワールドツアー（欧州ツアー）との訴訟もある。この二つが続いている限りは、何も起こらないだろう」
　「この２件がどう転ぼうと、その後はリブゴルフの側にいくつかのことをしてもらいたい」
　「グレッグは去るべきだと思う。静かに舞台を降りるべきだ。彼は足跡を残したが、今こそこんなふうに言うべきだと思う。滑り出しはうまくいったが、和解を図れる大人がいないのであれば、誰も話し合おうとはしないとね」
　「この二つのことが起これば、状況は変わる可能性がある。しかし現在は停滞している。他に道がないからだ」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/11/16-14:01）

World number one Rory McIlroy said Greg Norman will have to go if there is any chance of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf coming to the table and ending their acrimonious battle.
The four-time major champion said I think there's a few things that need to happen when asked in Dubai on Tuesday if it was possible for the two warring parties to find peace.
There's obviously two lawsuits going on at the minute. There's the PGA Tour versus LIV Golf and there's one coming up with the DP World Tour in February. Nothing will happen if those two things are still going on.
From whatever happens with those two cases, I'd like to see a few things on the LIV side to happen.
I think Greg needs to go. I think he just needs to exit stage left. He's made his mark, but I think now is the right time to sort of say, look, you've got this thing off the ground, but no one is going to talk unless there's an adult in the room that can actually try to mend fences.
And if those two things happen, then things can change.
But right now, it's a stalemate because there can't be any other way.
The Northern Irishman has been outspoken in his criticism of LIV Golf and has taken several jabs at Norman in the past.
McIlroy was speaking ahead of the $10 million DP World Tour Championship, the season-ending championship of the European Tour where he is aiming to win the Race to Dubai title and complete a double across both sides of the Atlantic.
He has already claimed the $18 million cheque for his FedEx Cup triumph.
McIlroy loves the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates where he has a fantastic record.
In 11 starts, he has won twice (2012 and 2015) and has finished inside the top-20 on all 11 occasions. His best round on the par-72 course is a 64 and he has shot 65 four times and a 66 seven times in 44 rounds.
I think for me, a golf course like this plays right into my strengths. There are four par-5s. So, par-72s are usually golf courses that I excel on because of the four par-5s and I'm able to play the par-5s quite well because of my length.
- 'Ways to improve' -
McIlroy won three times on the PGA Tour this year and has had 14 top-10s in 21 starts. He has missed just one cut, at the FedEx St Jude Championship in August.
It's been very consistent, especially in the majors. This year felt very similar to 2019, very similar numbers in terms of strokes gained. If anything, I was a little better this year stats-wise. Better around the greens and definitely putted better. It's the first time I ever finished in the top 20 in putting on the PGA Tour this year, said McIlroy.
So, it's really nice at this stage of my career, 15 years in, that I'm still finding ways to improve. That's a big positive thing going forward. It's been a great year and I'm excited to see where I go from here because as I said, those improvements 15 years into a career is something that excites me.
The tournament features the top-50 players in the Race to Dubai at the end of the Portugal Masters, and McIlroy is leading the Race to Dubai with 4,154.1 points.
New Zealand's Ryan Fox has climbed to second place and is just 128.1 points away in second, with the reigning US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick third and Tommy Fleetwood in fourth place.