PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan has made his stance clear on players opposing the return of Rory McIlroy to the policy board. The commissioner insisted that the policy board’s decision to block McIlroy’s comeback was not a reflection of the Northern Irish golfer’s “important influence”.
McIlroy had been set to rejoin the policy board, which he left in November. Webb Simpson, one of six PGA Tour player directors announced last month his intention to step down from his role, provided McIlroy would be his replacement.
The four-time major winner resigned from the policy board after feeling the strain of being the tour’s unofficial spokesperson amid its rivalry with LIV Golf, choosing to concentrate on his game and personal life. However, he was open to rejoining as merger talks with LIV’s backer, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), continued without resolution.
Yet the 35-year-old faced opposition from his fellow players. McIlroy revealed that a “subset” of the player directors did not want him to return at this time without the standard election process. According to Golf Digest, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay were not in favour of McIlroy returning to the policy board.
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Monahan issued a statement on the situation following McIlroy’s comments at Wednesday’s press conference ahead of the Wells Fargo Championship.”Today’s news is in no way a commentary on Rory’s important influence,” Monahan said. “It’s simply a matter of adherence to our governance process by which a Tour player becomes a board member.”
“Webb remaining in his position as a member of the policy board and PGA Tour Enterprises board through the end of his term provides the continuity needed at this vital time.”
“We are making progress in our negations with the PIF and are working as a collective the player directors, our boards and tour management to remain open-minded to all avenues that advance the tour in the best interest of our players, our partners and, most importantly, our fans.”
McIlroy said things got “complicated and messy” when he attempted to rejoin the policy board. He continued: “With the way it happened it opened up some wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before. And I think there was a subset of people on the board who were uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason.”
Adam Scott and Peter Malnati are the other player directors on the policy board, alongside, Woods, Spieth, Cantlay and Simpson. McIlroy will have to wait until the next post becomes available to stand for election, with Jordan Spieth – who replaced McIlroy on the board after his resignation – coming to the end of his term at the end of this year.
The six players and the tour’s executives and directors who sit on the policy board are at the forefront of the negotiations with PIF. A framework agreement was agreed 11 months ago for the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF to merge, but the final details are yet to be ironed out. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has secured a £2.4billion investment deal with Strategic Sports Group, with half of that money already distributed to players as part of an equity award scheme.
