Rory McIlroy gave a lengthy speech this week ahead of the Wells Fargo Championship regarding his potential return to the PGA Tour Policy Board, which he left in November.
He feels that a deal needs to be completed quickly and has become “impatient” with the PGA Tour’s ongoing discussions with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). McIlroy also thinks the division in golf that exists now is untenable. The Northern Irishman believed that his return will benefit professional golf as a whole in addition to being welcomed.
The current board members had different opinions.
“I think the way it happened opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before,” McIlroy said on Wednesday. “It got pretty complicated and pretty messy.”
“For whatever reason, there was a portion of the board members who might not have been comfortable with me returning. Indeed, I believe that the best course of action is to just sort of keep doing what I am doing if, you know, some folks on there feel uncomfortable with my returning.
According to Joel Beall of Golf Digest, McIlroy did not want to play for Patrick Cantlay, with whom he has not had a cordial relationship, Jordan Spieth, with whom he had disagreements over the PIF and a drop at The Players, and Tiger Woods, who was somewhat of a surprise, did not want McIlroy back.
The hesitancy of Cantlay and Spieth to enlist McIlroy is understandable. However, given that Woods and McIlroy will co-found TGL in 2025, there are some questions raised by the 15-time major winner’s disapproval.
Indeed, according to Beall, throughout the previous six months, the relationship between Woods and McIlroy “has soured.” Every player has a different idea about the direction professional golf should take going forward, with McIlroy leading the charge for the creation of a world golf tour. In Dubai back in January, he outlined this ideal situation.
Woods, on the other hand, has not made his plans for the PGA Tour’s future publicly known. However, Woods stated at the Genesis Invitational in February that the major players are weighing a variety of solutions.
In February, Woods stated, “We’re looking into all the different models for pathways back [for LIV Golf players].”
There is currently no answer to what it looks like, how it affects the gamers who have stayed and who have not departed, or how we can improve our product moving ahead. We’re considering several levels of concepts, but we’re not sure how it will play out in the near future. Even what that entails in the long run is unknown to us. Believe me, there are letters and conversations about this and how it relates to our next tour every day and every week.
However, in an effort to bridge the gap, McIlroy, who has previously declared that he “hates” LIV Golf, has changed his mind in recent months. He would welcome back those who joined LIV Golf and wants to see all of the same golfers playing alongside each other.
Maybe that’s where Woods and McIlroy’s differing views come from.
However, there is still a great deal of animosity among PGA circuit executives, which suggests that the PIF and the circuit are still at odds with each other. Men’s professional golf will continue to be divided as long as the top players on the PGA Tour are unable to agree on anything.
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