NEW ORLEANS, La. — While Rory McIlroy couldn’t confirm a return to the PGA Tour policy board until a vote takes place, McIlroy did confirm reports of current board member Webb Simpson potentially stepping away and requesting that McIlroy take his place.
And, yes, McIlroy is interested in the return.
“I think I can be helpful,” McIlroy said. “I don’t think there’s been much progress made in the last eight months, and I was hopeful that there would be. I think I could be helpful to the process.”
McIlroy said he’d only do it if people want him involved.
“When Webb and I talked and he talked about potentially coming off the board, I said, ‘Look, if it was something that other people wanted, I would gladly take that seat,’” McIlroy continued.
The PGA Tour policy board is a collection of six active tour players with voting power for both the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Enterprises, its new for-profit venture with outside investors. Unlike most sports in which teams have owners who vote on issues, PGA Tour players are essentially owners, and the six-player policy board wields massive power. The current board includes Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Peter Malnati and Simpson.
For so long, McIlroy, the world No. 2, was the most public face of the PGA Tour in its war with LIV Golf, the league funded by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. It’s why McIlroy surprised many by leaving the policy board in November, citing the need to focus on golf as his obligations with the board took up so much time.
He told reporters that month in Dubai: “It just got to the point where I couldn’t fit it all in. I’m thinking as we go into the next year, as I try to get ramped up for Augusta and all those tournaments, I just can’t see me putting the time and the energy into it. If I feel like I’m not prepared going into those meetings then it is better off if someone else takes my place, who is able to put the time and the energy into it.”
But it was clear McIlroy was scaling back his strong, public position on golf matters as far back as the June 6 announcement of a framework agreement between the PGA Tour and PIF. He said he felt like a “sacrificial lamb” when called to speak at the Canadian Open that week, and he noticeably did less press and gave less opinions from June 6 on.
He took a slightly different public approach to begin 2024. He still did less press, but he returned to speaking publicly about golf’s divide, often going against PGA Tour policy board members. McIlroy has repeatedly stated his desire for the game to unify, saying wins at signature events would feel cheapened without all the best players there. He called for more of a global golf structure in line with European soccer’s Champions League structure. And when Spieth — who replaced McIlroy on the board — said in February a deal with Strategic Sports Group investing $1.5 billion meant the tour didn’t “need” a deal with PIF, McIroy came out two days later saying he had a “frank” hourlong discussion about it.
“My thing was if I’m the original (potential) investor that thought that they were going to get this deal done back in July, and I’m hearing a board member say that, you know, we don’t really need them now, how are they going to think about that? What are they gonna feel about that?” McIlroy told Sports Illustrated.
Meanwhile, McIlroy’s game has struggled. Coming off two of the best seasons of his career, he has just one top-15 finish in eight starts.
Now, reports claim McIlroy’s return would be a boon for the PGA Tour, SSG and even PIF, as McIlroy has developed a friendly relationship with PIF governor Yasir Al-Ramayyan.
“I feel like I can be helpful,” McIlroy said Wednesday. “I feel like I care a lot, and I have some pretty good experience and good connections within the game and sort of around the wider sort of ecosystem and everything that’s going on.
“But at the end of the day, it’s not quite up to me to just come back on the board. There’s a process that has to be followed. But I’m willing to do it if that’s what people want, I guess.”
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
