Rory McIlroy says divide between PGA Tour and LIV Golf may be impossible to fix

While there were initial hopes the bitter rift — sparked in 2021 when the Saudi-backed breakaway tempted several top players with massive deals — might be resolved through a proposed merger, that optimism has faded.

More than two and a half years since the idea was first floated, the two sides seem no nearer to finding common ground.

"You see some of these other sports that have been fractured for so long," McIlroy told CNBC's CEO Council Forum. "You look at boxing for example, or you look at what's happened in motor racing in the United States with Indy and NASCAR and everything else, I think for golf in general it would be better if there was unification.

"But I just think with what's happened over the last few years, it's just going to be very difficult to be able to do that.

"As someone who supports the traditional structure of men's professional golf, we have to realize we were trying to deal with people that were acting, in some ways, irrationally, just in terms of the capital they were allocating and the money they were spending.

"It's been four or five years and there hasn't been a return yet, but they're going to have to keep spending that money to even just maintain what they have right now.

"A lot of these guys' contracts are up. They're going to ask for the same number or an even bigger number. LIV have spent five or six billion U.S. dollars, and they're going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are.

"I'm way more comfortable being on the PGA Tour side than on their side but who knows what'll happen?"

LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau admitted that the two sides seem very far from reaching an agreement.

"I wish something major would happen but I don't think it's going to in the immediate future," he told Fox News.

"I think there are too many wants on both sides and not enough gives on the other.

"We're just too far apart on a lot of things. It's going to take some time, but ultimately, I do think the game of golf will grow internationally."