Rory McIlroy announced on Wednesday that he won’t be resuming his position on the PGA Tour Policy Board. Meanwhile, Webb Simpson will continue serving on the decision-making panel.
Addressing the PGA Wells Fargo Championship’s eve at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina, McIlroy mentioned that certain board members expressed reservations regarding his comeback following his resignation from the board last year.
“There’s been a lot of conversations. Sort of reminded me partly why I didn’t (stay),” McIlroy said. “It got pretty complicated and pretty messy and I think with the way it happened, it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before.
“There was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason. I think the best course of action is, Webb just stays on and sees out his term, and I think he has gotten to a place where he’s comfortable with doing that and I just sort of keep doing what I’m doing.”
Among its members are golfers Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, and Peter Malnati. Both Cantlay and Spieth have previously clashed with McIlroy regarding the future trajectory of golf. There was an anticipation for McIlroy’s return following the announcement from 2012 US Open winner Simpson, who stated his intention to step down in order to prioritise spending more time with his family.
Contrarily, as per McIlroy’s statement, Simpson will fulfill his term, which is scheduled to conclude in 2025. “I put my hand up to help and it was, I wouldn’t say it was rejected,” McIlroy said. “It was a complicated process to get through to put me back on there. So that’s all fine, no hard feelings and we’ll all move on.”
Discussions continue within the board regarding the completion of a merger agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), supporters of the competing LIV Golf League, following the announcement of a framework agreement last June.
“I’m still optimistic,” McIlroy said. “I think Webb staying on is a really good thing. He has got a really balanced voice in all of this and I think he sees the bigger picture, which is great. My fear was if Webb stepped off and it wasn’t me that was going in his place, what could potentially happen.”
Conversations that initially had a December deadline have stretched out for months, with the frustrations stemming from slow or nonexistent progress being one of the factors contributing to McIlroy’s departure. “I’m impatient because I think we’ve got this window of opportunity to get it done, because both sides from a business perspective I wouldn’t say need to get it done, but it makes sense,” McIlroy said.
The golf star drew parallels between the current situation and the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to the conflict in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“Catholics weren’t happy, Protestants weren’t happy, but it brought peace and then you just sort of learn to live with whatever has been negotiated,” McIlroy added. That’s my little way of trying to think about it and trying to make both sides see that there could be a compromise here. Yeah, it’s probably not going to feel great 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 really good thing.”
