DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy believes the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have grown “too far apart” to form an alliance and bring a splintered sport back together.
“I just don’t see a world where it can happen at this point,” McIlroy said Wednesday at the Dubai Desert Classic on the European tour.
Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour from LIV has brought into sharper focus the fading hopes of any form of deal being struck by top officials on the two circuits.
Even U.S. President Donald Trump has gotten involved in negotiations at one point, but there’s no sign of a commercial partnership that was first mooted in 2023 when the tours announced a framework agreement.
To McIlroy, who was once one of the most outspoken critics of LIV before distancing himself from talks, it looks as far away as ever.
“Just I don’t see a world where the two or three sides or whoever it is will give up enough,” he said, in a reference to the involvement of the European tour in talks. “Like for reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won.
“I think they are just too far apart for that to happen.”
Among the top players still with LIV are Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who were McIlroy's teammates in Europe's Ryder Cup win at Bethpage Black last year.
Rahm and Hatton are currently going through an appeal process after being sanctioned with fines by the European tour for playing the LIV Golf circuit. They are still allowed into European tour events while the process plays out.
McIlroy said paying the fines would be a sign of their commitment to the Europe's Ryder Cup team ahead of the 2027 matches in Ireland.
“We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup, and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups,” McIlroy said. “There’s two guys that can prove it.”
McIlroy will be playing on the European tour for a second straight week, having finished tied for third at the Dubai Invitational on Sunday. He shared the lead at one stage in the final round but wound up two strokes back from winner Nacho Elvira.
The No. 2-ranked McIlroy said he is constantly shifting his expectations and goals after completing the career Grand Slam last year.
For the Northern Irishman, it’s mostly about “finding joy in the process.”
“I think I need to show up at tournaments with enthusiasm every single time,” he said. “So playing in the places that I want to play, playing the tournaments I want to play. Not feeling like I’m at a tournament because I’m obligated or have to be there but because I want to be there.”
Asked what he still wanted to achieve in golf, McIlroy said: “Olympic medal. (British) Open at St. Andrews. Yeah, maybe like a U.S. Open at one of those like old, traditional golf courses — whether it’s Shinnecock this year or Winged Foot or Pebble Beach, (or) Merion.
“I would have told you two years ago,” he added, “if I won the Masters, it would have been great and I could have retired or whatever. But when you keep doing things, the goal posts keep moving, and you just keep finding new things that you want to do.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland walks after playing a second shot on the 15th hole during the final round of Dubai Invitational golf tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland hits off the first tee during the final round of Dubai Invitational golf tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
GELIDA, Spain (AP) — Commuter rail service in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region was suspended Wednesday after a Barcelona commuter train crashed the night before, Spanish authorities said.
At least one person died in the Barcelona-area crash, and 37 others were injured as crews worked at night to complete the rescue effort. The train hit a retaining wall that fell onto the tracks, authorities said.
The news late Tuesday of another train crash mere days after Spain’s worst railway disaster since 2013 left many Spaniards in disbelief. Emergency workers were still searching for victims in the wreckage from Sunday’s high-speed crash in southern Spain that killed at least 42 people and injured dozens some 800 kilometers (497 miles) away.
Three days of national mourning were underway, while the cause of that crash was being investigated.
The victim of Tuesday night’s crash was a conductor in training, regional authorities said. Most of the injured had ridden in the first train car.
The disruptions Wednesday morning caused significant traffic jams on roads leading into Barcelona. Regional authorities in Catalonia asked people to reduce unnecessary travel and companies to allow remote work while the disruptions continued.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered condolences to those affected in the Barcelona crash, writing on X: “All my affection and solidarity with the victims and their families.”
While Spain’s high-speed rail network generally runs smoothly, and at least until Sunday had been a source of confidence, commuter rail services are plagued by reliability issues. However, accidents causing injury or death are not common.
The commuter train crashed near the town of Gelida, located about 37 kilometers (23 miles) outside Barcelona.
Spain’s railway operator ADIF said the containment wall likely collapsed due to heavy rainfall that swept across the northeastern Spanish region this week.
Sunday evening's crash happened when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, derailed and crashed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern city, according to rail operator Adif. The collision took place near Adamuz, a town about 370 kilometers (roughly 230 miles) from the Spanish capital, Madrid.
The front of the second train, which was carrying 184 people, took the brunt of the impact, which knocked its first two carriages off the track and down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters (feet) from the crash site, according to Andalusia regional President Juanma Moreno.
Authorities were still searching for more bodies Wednesday. Health authorities said 37 people remained in hospitals Wednesday morning, while 86 people were treated and discharged.
Among the injured was Santiago Tavares, a Portuguese traveler who broke his leg in the rail accident.
“Minutes before the train crash I had a feeling that an accident would happen because the carriage was moving a lot,” Tavares told Portuguese broadcaster TVI. “I even mentioned to my girlfriend that the carriage was moving more than normal. Ten minutes later the accident happens, I started to fly ... Then, I woke up and I realized I was alive.”
Officials are continuing to investigate what caused both train accidents. Transport Minister Oscar Puente called Sunday's collision “truly strange” since it occurred on a straight line and neither train was speeding.
Puente said officials had found a broken section of track that could possibly be related to the accident’s origin, while insisting that is just a hypothesis and that it could take weeks to reach any conclusions.
In August, the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers sent a letter asking Spain’s national railway operator to investigate flaws on train lines across the country and to reduce speeds at certain points until the tracks were fully repaired. Those recommendations were made for high-speed train lines, including the one where Sunday’s accident took place, the union told The Associated Press.
The train that jumped the track belonged to the private company Iryo, while the second train belonged to Spain’s public train company, Renfe.
Iryo said in a statement Monday that its train was manufactured in 2022 and had passed a safety check on Jan. 15.
Puente and Renfe president Álvaro Fernández said that both trains were traveling well under the speed limit of 250 kph (155 mph) and “human error could be ruled out.”
The accident shook a nation that leads Europe in high-speed train mileage and takes pride in a network that is considered at the cutting edge of rail transport.
Naishadham reported from Madrid.
Police officers and firefighters inspect the damage after a commuter train derailed as a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
Police officers inspect the damage after a commuter train derailed as a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
Police officers and firefighters inspect the damage after a commuter train derailed as a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
View of the site of a train collision in Adamuz, southern Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Emergency crews respond after a commuter train derailed when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
Emergency crews respond after a commuter train derailed when a retaining wall collapsed onto the tracks in Gelida, near Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
