Rory McIlroy has resigned from the PGA Tour board after admitting he had grown disillusioned with the role during the tour’s bitter battle with Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and board chairman Edward Herlihy said in a statement late Tuesday that the four-time major winner had decided to step away from the board to focus on his golf and spend more time with his family. .
McIlroy’s retirement is another sign of the turmoil that has gripped golf since the LIV golf tour emerged last year.
“Given the incredible amount of time and effort that Rory – and his fellow player leaders – have put into the tour during this uniquely transformative time in our history, we certainly understand and ‘ respect his decision to retire to focus on. his game and his family,” Monahan and Herlihy said in a statement on the PGA Tour website.
McIlroy, 34, has been one of the PGA Tour’s staunchest allies during his bitter civil war with LIV, reportedly turning down a big offer to join the costing ranks of the – free.
The Irishman was among the players left frustrated in June when the PGA Tour announced it was forming a joint venture with Saudi paymasters LIV, ending the dispute.
McIlroy later revealed that he had no knowledge of the negotiations that led to a tie-up between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
After going in hard to bat on behalf of the PGA Tour during the LIV saga, McIlroy made it clear he felt let down by a contract sealed behind his back.
“It’s hard for me not to sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feel like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens,” said McIlroy at the Canadian Open in June.
However, McIlroy admitted that trying to get rid of the billions that Saudi Arabia was willing to throw at golf had become uncertain.
“Honestly, I’m just resigned to the fact that this is, you know, this is what’s going to happen,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to keep up with people who have more money than anyone else. And, again, if they want to put that money into the game of golf, why don’t we partner with them and make sure it gets done. the right way?”
Speaking in Dubai on Tuesday before announcing his resignation from the PGA Tour board, McIlroy made it clear he was no longer motivated by his role as a board member.
Asked if he was looking forward to helping shape discussions that will determine what the PGA Tour-Saudi joint venture will look like, McIlroy replied: “Not specifically, no.
“That’s not what I signed up for when I got on the board. But yeah, the game of golf has been moving for the last couple of years,” said McIlroy.
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