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Rory McIlroy has warned that it could be a ‘tough road back’ for LIV Golf players wanting to return to the PGA Tour and has questioned the value they would offer.

The LIV Golf League faces an uncertain future, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirming earlier this year it would not fund the circuit beyond 2026 and the season-ending Team Championship in Michigan cancelled.

LIV Golf chief executive Scott O’Neil has previously outlined the circuit is ‘building the next chapter’ and has an unnamed lead investor to try and keep the league running, although many players are understood to be weighing up their options.

Brooks Koepka was allowed back via the returning member program in February and Patrick Reed is eligible to feature from September, while Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are among the high-profile players linked with PGA Tour returns.

When asked whether LIV Golf players should be allowed to return to the PGA Tour, McIlroy said ahead of the BMW Championship: “I would argue have they brought value to LIV? I think the PGA Tour’s in a really good spot.”

McIlroy added: “Eventually they will [be welcomed back]. I’m not part of these discussions but I’m pretty sure they’re not going to be welcomed back straight away.

“If they were offered this returning member program back in February, the one that Brooks [Koepka] took, then yeah, maybe, but that has come and gone.

“I think it was said at the time that the deal that they might get going forward, if they do decide to come back, isn’t going to be as good as the one that Brooks got. I would say it’s going to be a tough road back.”

LIV Golf remain hopeful their 2027 schedule can feature five marquee Team Championships across five continents, with five team Signature Events positioned around majors, although McIlroy believes the PGA Tour remains the circuit for the world’s best to play.

“I think I feel like I’ve kept my position consistent that LIV has never been a good thing for the game,” McIlroy explained. “Whatever 2.0 looks like, if it even happens, they say they’re trying to be more collaborative and all that.

“This [PGA Tour] is the best platform for the top professional golfers in the world. Were there some things at the start of LIV that the PGA Tour could have done better? Sure.

“You think back to the start with say, Phil [Mickelson] unhappy with some stuff or whatever it was. Surely that just warranted a conversation instead of blowing the entire professional game up and doing something else?

“I don’t take any personal satisfaction of people losing jobs – that doesn’t seem right. I’ve always felt like this is the best place to play professional golf. I’m pretty sure if the PGA Tour were handed $6bn it would have done a better job with it.”

‘Some LIV players would offer PGA Tour value’

Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquin Niemann are among the others to have won on LIV Golf this season, although Scottie Scheffler expects to see any players wishing to return penalised before reappearing on the DP World Tour.

“When we talk about the best players [in the world], LIV has a few players that are really good,” Scheffler explained. “I think the depth that we have on our tour is bit unmatched.

“I think when you look at the higher levels of LIV Golf there’s definitely some players that would provide a lot of value to the [PGA] Tour and guys that I love competing against.

“I think going forward there obviously has to be some sort of penalties. What those are, I’ll let [Brian] Rolapp [PGA Tour CEO] and all those guys figure it out. Whatever happens with LIV, whether those guys want to leave, you’ve got to ask them.

“I think, for me, being able to compete against the best players in the world [is what he wants]. There’s certainly some guys on that tour [LIV Golf] that can compete out here. I look forward to the chance to compete with them more often.”

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Joe Root’s second spell as England Test captain began with his side skittling Pakistan for 171 at Headingley as Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue each bagged five-wicket hauls around a lengthy rain delay and a brief fightback from the tourists.

Root is back in charge following Ben Stokes’ shock international retirement in June and charged with turning around the team’s fortunes after seven defeats and just one win in their last 10 games, across fixtures against India, Australia and New Zealand.

Bar wet weather preventing any play from 11.50pm-1.45pm, and Abdullah Shafique (61) and Imam-ul-Haq (42) putting on a stand of 91 from 6-2, this was an excellent day for Root, with Pakistan rolled in 48.1 overs before the hosts closed on 112-2 in reply, trailing by 59.

England lost Ben Duckett (15) lbw and Emilio Gay (33) caught at slip, to Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali respectively, leaving Jordan Cox (23no) – into the side at No 3 in place of the injured Jacob Bethell – and Root (37no) to usher the side to the 7.30pm stumps with an unbroken stand of 64.

The day had been extended after the earlier rain, which could return in droves on day two.

Root – whose first stint in charge from 2017-2022 preceded the fabulously entertaining but ultimately flawed Bazball era – had no hesitation in bowling after winning the toss under leaden skies on his home ground and that decision reaped immediate rewards.

Robinson (5-51) inflicted a platinum duck on Azan Awais, trapping the opener lbw from around the wicket as a wicket fell to the first ball of a Test match in England for the first time in 19 years, and then pinned Shan Masood (5) leg before from over the wicket.

Pakistan battled to 23-2 from 9.4 overs before the rain arrived, during which time England burned two reviews looking for further breakthroughs, and then progressed to 97-3 once play resumed, only for Tongue (5-46) nicking off Imam to trigger a collapse.

The away side lost their final eight wickets for 74 and last five for 21, with the clatter including Robinson bowling Shafique with a beauty that jagged in prodigiously and the same bowler pinning Saud Shakeel (5) lbw after the batter took two long to request a review that would have saved him – the ball was set to soar over leg stump.

Tongue’s hat-trick hopes dashed as Pakistan razed

Tongue was on a hat-trick as the players emerged after tea having bowled stand-in Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha (21) – who is deputising for Babar Azam (hand) – through the gate and then trapped Ali Usman (0) lbw before the break.

Pakistan No 9 Khurram Shahzad (14) denied Tongue that magic moment, with a crunching cover-driven four, but Tongue snared a fourth Test five-for by going on to remove Mohammad Rizwan (12) lbw and obliterate the off stump of Abbas (2).

Robinson’s fifth five-for in the format, and second of the summer, could have come two balls earlier than it did, only for Gus Atkinson to spill Khurram’s hack to mid-on, yet Atkinson made no mistake shortly after when Khurram sliced down the ground once again.

This is the skilful Robinson’s first Test since the series opener against New Zealand at Lord’s, a game in which he bagged a triple-wicket maiden, seven wickets all told and was named Player of the Match, and he bowled with immense accuracy and control here, too.

The same could not be said of Jofra Archer (0-26 from nine overs), who struggled with his line and length at times – conceding 12 runs off his fourth over – and looked very much like a man who has had a diet of white-ball cricket over the last few months.

Archer, who was hooked after two overs after sharing the new ball with Robinson, should be better for the runout.

Shafique had entered this Test off the back of a fifty in the sole warm-up against a County Select XI last week and an unbeaten 160 in the Test win in the West Indies earlier this month.

He looked well attuned to red-ball cricket – once he had survived a one-sided early tussle with Tongue, that is – as he compiled a sixth Test fifty, from 82 deliveries, before falling to Robinson’s jaffa.

England opener Gay had bagged a pair playing for the County XI against Pakistan in that aforementioned tune-up fixture in Beckenham but he got off the mark second ball in Leeds with a nerve-settling single and then stroked and clipped a number of pleasing boundaries before prodding to slip.

The home side could face a long wait before they bat again as Thursday’s forecast is rotten but whenever play does resume, it will do so with England in a strong position, with Abbas’ fellow Pakistan seamers Khurram and Ali unable to match his precision as they leaked runs and Root now ominously settled.

Tongue: England in a great position

England fast bowler Josh Tongue (5-46), talking to Sky Sports:

“We’re in a great position now but that first hour tomorrow morning – it might do a bit more at 11am.

“If we focus on that first hour, we can get a good lead.

“As a bowling unit, we were very good and Robinson was excellent. It was similar to his performance at Lord’s against New Zealand.

“He’s an exceptional bowler when he hits his lines and lengths and he showed that today.”

Watch day two of the first Test between England and Pakistan, at Headingley, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10.15am on Thursday (11am first ball, weather-permitting). Stream cricket and more sport contract-free with NOW

England vs Pakistan Test series schedule

All games live on Sky Sports; all 11am starts UK and Ireland

• First Test (Headingley) – August 19-23
• Second Test (Lord’s) – August 27-31
• Third Test (Edgbaston) – September 9-13