Rory McIlroy Says He's 'Out' on High-Stakes Premier Golf League

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy has dealt a major blow to the proposed Premier Golf League by saying he is not open to joining it.

Speaking ahead of the WGC-Mexico Championship, which gets underway on Thursday, McIlroy said he did not like the prospect of not being able to run his own schedule, per Steve DiMeglio of USA Today:

"The more I've thought about it, the more I don't like it. The one thing as a professional golfer in my position that I value is the fact that I have autonomy and freedom over everything that I do. This [week] is a perfect example. Some guys this week made the choice to not come to Mexico. If you go and play this other golf league, you're not going to have that choice.

"I read a thing the other day where it said if you take the money they can tell you what to do, so if you don't take the money, they can't tell you what to do. And I think that's my thing, I've never been one for being told what to do, and I like to have that autonomy and freedom over my career, and I feel like I would give that up by going to play this other league. For me, I'm out."

The Premier Golf League is a proposed tour that would rival the PGA Tour and European Tour and feature 48 players in an 18-event season.

As BBC Sport's Iain Carter noted, talk around the multi-million dollar project has refused to go away, with Tiger Woods saying earlier in February he was "still looking at it," and Justin Rose telling the Daily Mail's Derek Lawrenson that "there are a lot of incentives for the guys to be interested."

McIlroy could now have dealt a fatal blow to the proposed tour.

Aside from Woods, the 30-year-old is the most marketable name in golf, and he has been praised for taking a stand on the rebel tour:

The Northern Irishman did, however, add the caveat that he is "against it until there may come a day that I can't be against it."

Per DiMeglio, he explained: "If everyone else goes, I might not have a choice, but at this point, yeah, I don't like what they're proposing."

McIlroy returned to the top of the men's golf rankings last week for the first time since September 2015 and remained there after finishing in a tie for fifth at the Genesis Open.

The four-time major winner went into the final round at the Riviera Country Club in a tie for the lead but eventually finished three shots back from winner Adam Scott after a round of 73.

Katharine Lotze/Getty Images

After back-to-back top-five finishes in 2020, though, McIlroy is well-fancied to win this week in Mexico City.

Defending champion Dustin Johnson will be a major challenger after winning the tournament three times in the last five years.

There will be 42 of the world's top 50 competing at the WGC-Mexico Championship.

With less than two months to go before the Masters, the first major of the year, every top player will be aiming to play their way into the kind of form that could win them the green jacket.

The Masters remains the one major that has eluded McIlroy.

He has had top-10 finishes at Augusta in five of the last six years, though, and his return to the top of the rankings is an indication he could finally get that monkey off his back in 2020.