McIlroy quits PGA Tour’s player-director post as PIF deal nears

By Rahul Banerji

World number two and PGA Tour policy board member Rory McIlroy on Monday resigned from his post saying he needed time for his personal and professional commitments.

McIlroy notified the board that he was resigning from Dubai where he is preparing for the DP World Tour Championship after having clinched the European tour’s order of merit for a fifth time.

Given his strident anti-LIV Golf stand and the fact that critical negotiations are around the corner on bringing the Saudi-backed league on the same page as the PGA Tour, speculations is already mounting that the two are related.

McIlroy’s resignation was announced in a note on Tuesday from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who said, “I wanted to inform you that Rory Mcllroy has resigned from the PGA Tour Policy Board.

“Rory’s resignation letter, which he sent to the full Board late this afternoon, clearly stated that the difficult decision was made due to professional and personal commitments.

Key role

“During his tenure, Rory’s insight has been instrumental in helping shape the success of the Tour, and his willingness to thoughtfully voice his opinions has been especially impactful.

“Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory – and all of his fellow Player Directors – have invested in the Tour during this unprecedented, transformational period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down in order to focus on his game and his family.”

McIlroy was on the board for two years after three years on the PAC. When the framework deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi fund PIF was announced in June, McIlroy said he had been sacrificed after taking strong stands against the Greg Nirman-fronted league..

At the same time, the Northern Irishman will now also have the TGL arena golf league on his hands which he and Tiger Woods will be steering from January 9 next year, which means additional pressure in addition to playing commitments.

At TGL, besides being a co-founder as part of TMRW Sports, McIlroy is also a member of the Boston team along with Adam Scott, Tyrell Hatton and Keegan Bradley

Heavy load

For his part, McIlroy said in Dubai that his responsibilities as a board member have been greater than anticipated.

“Not what I signed (up) for whenever I went on the board,” he said. “The game of professional golf has been in flux for the last two years.”

Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Charley Hoffman, Peter Malnati and Webb Simpson are the remaining player directors on the PGA Tour’s policy board.

Meanwhile, Monahan also said on Tuesday memo that the PGA Tour was focused on negotiations toward a Definitive Agreement with the PIF and the DP World Tour after a Framework Agreement between the parties was reached June 6.

The Framework Agreement also generated what was described as “unsolicited, but unsurprising” interest from outside investors.

Some of those proposals were reviewed on Monday and a potential final minority investor or investors will be selected “in a timely manner,” Monahan added.

“This would be a unique offering in professional sports, as no other league grants its players/members direct equity ownership in the league’s business,” Monahan wrote in his note to the players.

“We recognise – as do all of the prospective minority investors who are in dialogue with us – that the PGA Tour will be stronger with our players more closely aligned with the commercial success of the business.”

Also read: Tiger Woods-backed TGL arena golf league set for Jan. launch