Rory McIlroy won’t return to PGA Tour policy board after pushback, will still negotiate LIV Golf deal
After all, Rory McIlroy will not be returning to the PGA Tour policy board.
McIlroy said Wednesday before the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina that because of resistance from other players on the board, he will not replace Webb Simpson on the PGA Tour Enterprises policy board and board of directors.
McIlroy resigned from his position on the board in November, but would replace Simpson — who wanted to step down about a year before his term expired. Simpson will now serve out the remainder of his term, which ends next year.
“There were a lot of conversations,” McIlroy said Wednesday at the Quail Hollow Club. “It partially reminded me why I didn’t [stay on the board]. So, yes, I think it became very complicated and very confusing.
“I think the way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scars from things that happened before. I think there was a subset of people on the board that maybe felt uncomfortable with me coming back for some reason.”
McIlroy did not say who on the board was uncomfortable. Apart from Simpson, Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods are the other player directors.
“I think Webb staying is a very good thing,” McIlroy said. “I think he has a very balanced voice in all of this, and I think he sees the bigger picture, which is great. My fear was if Webb left and I wasn’t the one in his place, what could potentially happen? Yes, I’m very happy that Webb made the decision to stay on and serve out the rest of his term.
McIlroy, who has long been the face of the Tour in its fight against LIV Golf, resigned from the Tour’s political board in November. He cited “personal and professional commitments” when he resigned and later said the role’s responsibilities were taking up much more of his time than he expected. Spieth officially replaced McIlroy a few weeks later.
McIlroy, who enters this week’s tournament ranked second in the official world golf rankings, won the Zurich Classic in New Orleans alongside Shane Lowry last month in a playoff. His last solo win came at the Genesis Scottish Open last season.
Rory McIlroy named to ‘transaction subcommittee’ for LIV Golf negotiations
Although he is not on the Tour’s political board, McIlroy was named to the newly formed “transactions subcommittee” on Thursday afternoon.
McIlroy is joining Woods, Scott, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, Fenway Sports Group’s John Henry and chief liaison Joe Ogilive on the new committee, which will handle day-to-day negotiations with the Fund. Public Investment in Saudi Arabia. The new committee will report to the board.
Negotiations between the PIF, which supports LIV Golf, and the Tour are still ongoing, even months after the self-imposed deadline passed. McIlroy has met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the past about the future of the sport, and Monahan and the board met with him in the Bahamas earlier this spring. It’s unknown what progress, if any, McIlroy and the new transactions subcommittee have made on that front.
“I’m not on the board, but I am somehow involved in that transaction committee,” McIlroy revealed after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship. “I don’t have a vote, so I don’t – you know, I don’t think I have a significant say in what happens in the future, but at least I can – I feel like I can be useful on this committee, and this was kind of a compromise by not get a seat on the board.
It remains unclear when such a deal will be completed, if at all, and what it will look like. McIlroy, like countless others in and around the golf world, is growing impatient. Invoking the Good Friday Agreement between Ireland and Northern Ireland, McIlroy said both sides needed to reach an agreement and move forward.
“It probably won’t be good for either side, but if it’s a place where the game of golf starts to thrive again and we can all get back together, then I think that’s ultimately a very good thing,” he said. on Wednesday.
