Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy resigns from his position as player director of the PGA Policy Board as the tour heads toward finalizing a deal with LIV Golf
PGA star Rory McIlroy has been very vocal in his opposition to Saudi-backed LIV Golf and he may have taken another stand this week, as he has resigned as a player director on the tour’s influential policy board.
McIlroy, the No. 2 golfer in the world, announced his resignation in a letter to the full policy board Tuesday. He joined the board in 2022 and was expected to serve through 2024.
Much has been made of Rory McIlroy’s dismay over the PGA Tour’s decision to merge with their golfing rival, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf. While some of the regulars in the Pro Golf Association had no problem taking huge contracts to make the jump to the upstart league, many others stood their ground.
Be it for personal or political reasons – or simply loyalty to the PGA Tour – LIV became public enemy number one for them. Rory McIlroy was one of the game’s premier players who resisted the urge to make the switch – even as many observers (including former President Donald Trump) said they were foolish for passing on all those big bucks.
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“Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory – and all of his fellow player directors – have invested in the tour during this unprecedented, transformational period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down in order to focus on his game and his family,” Edward D. Herlihy, the policy board’s chairman, said in a statement.
Rory McIlroy was one of the leading golfers who backed the PGA when the Saudi Investment Fund essentially declared war on the Tour, signing away huge names like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
That’s why he was so blindsided when the PGA announced it was merging with both LIV and the European Tour. At the time he said he felt like a “sacrificial lamb“, and it appears that those feelings still linger. No word on how this will affect his career path from here, but it’s clear that one of the PGA’s biggest stars isn’t happy with the direction the game is currently headed.
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