‘They didn’t offer me that at all’: Justin Rose reveals why he turned down LIV Golf
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Justin Rose could have taken the easy way out and, with it, a boat load of cash. Instead, he stuck to what’s true to him – and he’s confident the golf gods will reward him…
Justin Rose has outlined why he opted to turn down a move to LIV Golf, explaining that the league’s inability to offer world ranking points and therefore entry into majors was the decisive factor.
The Englishman is still mixing it with the best players in the world and has won twice on the PGA Tour since the inception of LIV, including at last week’s FedEx Cup St Jude Championship.
Rose has also come agonisingly close to adding to his lone major at the 2013 US Open, finishing in a tie for second at last year’s Open at Royal Troon before losing in a playoff to Rory McIlroy at the 2025 Masters.
Now back in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, the 45-year-old has locked up his place on Luke Donald’s European team for September’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage and continues to justify his decision to turn down LIV’s advances.
“I had the opportunity and a lot of my friends have gone over there,” Rose told the No Laying Up podcast. “I harbor no ill feeling for guys who have made that decision at certain times in their career.
“I just felt like I had more to give myself. I felt like I needed to believe in the 12-year-old me that wanted to win major championships and chase my dreams, and LIV didn’t offer me that at all.
“It didn’t offer me the opportunity to continue to play in majors. At the time, I’m still not really guaranteed to be in majors forever more – you have got to earn your way in this game. That’s what I like about it. There is nothing given out here, you have got to earn everything, and I just felt like I needed that challenge and that environment to keep pushing me.”
LIV has managed to lure some of the biggest names in the game away from the PGA Tour with mega-money offers, including Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. But, for Rose, professional golf is about much more than that.
“I didn’t really have any business believing I could win a major again, but I truly do believe I can have that Indian summer to my career,” he continued. “For me, that is way more valuable than, let’s just say, trying to put a financial reward to it.
“It’s my golfing dreams, it’s the 12-year-old me. It’s like having a rhetorical conversation with the 12-year-old me and justifying why I would make that move. I would have thought he probably wouldn’t have been too happy with it.
“With where I am trending, I am pretty happy with where I’m at and I think the dream is still alive.”
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Justin Rose has explained why he turned down LIV Golf.
