Rory McIlroy Gives His Blessing to PGA Tour/PIF Deal: 'The Future of the PGA Tour Looks Brighter'
While surprised that everything came together so quickly, Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that the PGA Tour’s partnership with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will ultimately be good for the game of golf.
Speaking after his pro-am round at the RBC Canadian Open, McIlroy learned of the agreement shortly before the rest of the world on Tuesday but said much of it has been mischaracterized and that it should not be viewed as a merger with LIV Golf.
"LIV has nothing to do with this," McIlroy said. "It's the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund that are basically partnering to create a new company. That’s where I was a little frustrated. All I've wanted to do was protect the future of the PGA Tour and protect the aspirational nature of what the PGA Tour stands for. I think this does this.
"If you look at the structure, this new company sits above everything else. (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay (Monahan) the CEO of that. Technically, anyone involved with LIV would answer to Jay. The one thing whether you like it or not, the PIF were going to keep spending money in golf. At least the PGA Tour controls how that money is spent. You're dealing with one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world. Would you rather fight against or have them as a partner?"
McIlroy was referencing what will be a new for-profit venture of which Monahan will be CEO and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be the director. That will be separate from the PGA Tour as we know it now and in theory will operate events separate from what is taking place now.
How that will look remains unclear. Many who support the LIV Golf model believe it will simply be a continuation of what is being done now, with 48-player tournaments and 12 teams with the ability of PGA Tour players to do both.
Monahan vaguely pushed back on that Tuesday during a news conference and McIlroy did as well.
"I would say an element of team golf might still stay," McIlroy said. "My hope is it won't be under the LIV umbrella. It will hopefully look very different to what LIV has been."
He then added: "It's not LIV. I still hate LIV. I hope it goes away. And I fully expect that it does ... It’s very different from LIV. I’ve tried to protect what the PGA Tour is and what the PGA Tour stands for. There may be a team element, but I don’t think it will look anything like LIV has looked. And I think that's a good thing."
McIlroy, who has been front and center for the PGA Tour in its fight with LIV over the past year, said the player meeting on Tuesday was contentious, with some calling for Monahan's resignation. McIlroy admitted that Monahan came off as hypocritical for using the dirty Saudi money as an angle to push against LIV—and now partnering with those people behind the money.
The four-time major winner who is the defending champion in Canada said he told Monahan "you’ve galvanized us against something and now you’ve partnered with them. It does sound hypocritical.
"(But) whether you like it or not, the PIF and the Saudis want to spend money in the game of golf. They want to do this. And they weren't going to stop. How do we get that money into the game and use it the right way? I think that is what this ultimately will do. That is my hope."
McIlroy admitted he had some personal angst over the situation. While he was never offered a deal from LIV Golf, he is fully aware of the money he could have commanded had he been interested. Other players feel the same way. And then there are those who at the lower levels of the Tour who are feeling squeezed by the new designated event structure that will go into full effect in 2023.
"I think the future of the PGA Tour looks brighter as an entity," he said. "What that looks like for individual players in terms of keeping a tour card or bringing players back into the fold and the sacrifices other people make ... that's where the anger comes from. I understand that.
"There still has to be consequences to the actions. (Those who left) irreparably harmed (the PGA Tour). Started litigation. We can't just let them walk back in and pretend like nothing’s happened."
McIlroy said he was aware that there were some back-channel talks being held between the Tour and the PIF but that he was not aware of any details until he was called by Jimmy Dunne, a member of the PGA Tour policy board on Tuesday morning.
"I think ultimately, when I try to remove myself from the situation and try to look at the bigger picture, 10 years down the line, this will be good for the game of professional golf. It unifies and it and secures its financial future.
"I have mixed emotions as well. I don’t understand all the intricacies of what is going on. There’s a lot of ambiguity. A lot of things still to be thrashed out. At least it means that the litigation goes way. That was a massive burden for everyone who is involved in the Tour and playing the Tour. And we can start now to work on some way of unifying the game at the elite level."