Daughter Poppy was getting the blame for passing it to her father. But the bug that dotted Rory McIlroy’s press conference on the eve of the BMW PGA Championship with occasional coughs and spluttering didn’t stop the four-time major champion from being his usual thought-provoking self.

After another crushing runner-up finish, this time at last week’s Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down, Rory McIlroy is teeing it up at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in England, one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour schedule. As expected, the Northern Irishman was once again asked about the PGA Tour-PIF deal.

Rory McIlroy may not have been in attendance for the in-person meetings between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund last week in New York, but he still knows more than most when it comes to the slowly progressing potential deal between the tour and LIV Golf's financial backers.