Rory McIlroy takes another swing at LIV Golf, glad he went up ‘against the best to bring out your best’

Rory McIlroy took another shot at LIV Golf Monday following his second straight RBC Canadian Open victory.

McIlroy tweeted his thanks to all the fans who came out to St. George’s to support and cheer him on as he narrowly defeated Tony Finau and Justin Thomas and the prelude to the U.S. Open. He also took another swipe at LIV Golf, saying he had to play against the best to be the best.

“Another special week in (Canada). Thank you to all the fans that came out and created an incredible atmosphere. Battling w/ @justinthomas34 and @tonyfinaugolf yesterday is what we dream about. Going up against the best to bring out your best. Proud to get my name on this trophy again,” he wrote.

McIlroy was apparently referencing the stiff competition he faced in the PGA Tour event compared to what Charl Schwartzel had to face in the first LIV Golf competition.

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Before the start of the RBC Canadian Open, McIlroy was ranked No. 8, Thomas No. 6 and Finau No. 18. Sam Burns, who finished tied for fourth with Justin Rose, was ranked No. 9. Rose was ranked 58th.

Schwartzel was not in the World Golf Rankings and neither was second-place finisher Hennie Du Plessis or Branden Grace, who tied for third place. Sam Horsfield was ranked No. 74 in the world and finished in fifth place.

McIlroy’s win also gave him more PGA Tour wins (21) than Greg Norman, who is running LIV Golf.

“This is a day I’ll remember for a long, long time. Twenty-one PGA Tour wins, one more than somebody else,” he said soon after the victory.

“I had extra motivation of what’s going on across the pond. The guy that’s spearheading that tour has 20 wins on the PGA Tour and I was tied with him and I wanted to get one ahead of him. And I did. So, that was really cool for me, just a little sense of pride on that one,” he continued in the post-round press conference.

McIlroy finished the weekend with a 19-under par.

“I feel like it’s getting tougher and tougher to win on the PGA Tour. Just look at the two guys that I played with today. I went out with a lead and had to shoot 8-under par to get the job done. So the depth of talent on this tour is really, really impressive. And going up against guys like J.T. and Tony and coming out on top, that’s something to feel really good about,” McIlroy said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.