Rory McIlroy Seems To Have Accepted He's Lost The Fight Against LIV And The Saudi PIF, Which May Only End Up Helping His Career
After taking on the role of player director on the PGA Tour policy board in 2022, Rory McIlroy announced Tuesday that he was resigning from the position. No matter how surprising and odd the timing of the move may seem, when it's all said and done, there's reason to believe his stepping down may end up being a blessing for his career.
Whether it was a planned move or not, McIlroy became the unofficial spokesperson of the PGA Tour during its fight with LIV Golf. Even prior to LIV's first event, McIlroy was the most vocal player on the planet speaking out against LIV and its Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) backing.
His role on the policy board turned his unofficial spokesperson title into an incredibly official one as he continued to carry all the water possible for the PGA Tour while casting aside any argument about LIV Golf's legitimacy.
Rory McIlroy resigning from the PGA Tour policy board may be a great thing for his career. Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Rory And His Right To Feel Betrayed
But then the calendar hit June 6, 2023. That was the day PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan sat next to one another on CNBC and announced that the Tour, PIF, and DP World Tour had settled upon a framework agreement to merge.
Shortly after the announcement, an understandably defeated McIlroy referred to himself as a "sacrificial lamb." In the weeks to follow, McIlroy's tune about the PIF changed as he even called for "peace talks" between all parties involved.
The fight that McIlroy and other PGA Tour players were fighting against LIV Golf and the PIF was lost as soon as the proposed merger was announced. McIlroy's change in tune proves that realization, but at the time of this writing, no official deal has been made between the two tours and the PIF.
Back to the timing of McIlroy's resignation from the board.
The four-time major winner's stepping down came exactly one day after the 12-man group met at PGA Tour headquarters to discuss ongoing negotiations with the PIF and newly acknowledged outside investors.
It's unclear what exactly went on in that meeting, but something did, and that something clearly pushed McIlroy to his boiling point leading him to officially wave his white flag in the fight against professional golf's disruptors.
Rory McIlroy has gone nearly 10 years without winning a major championship. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy Quitting The Fight Could Turn Out To Be Wise
Surrender is almost never looked at as a positive and certainly not a sign of strength, but in McIlroy's case, I think you can view him quitting in what was a fight against the Saudis and their bottomless pockets as a wise decision.
It was a matter of when, not if McIlroy was going to get sick of being 'the guy' for the Tour. He'll turn 35 years old in May and while he has many years of elite competitive golf ahead of him, Father Time is undefeated.
We're fast approaching the 10-year anniversary of McIlroy's last major championship victory at the 2014 PGA Championship. He's picked up plenty of wins since then and three FedEx Cups, but just like nobody will remember his short stint on the Tour's policy board, nobody will remember Rory for all the non-major wins he tallied in his career.
Only time and his results will tell if the policy board distraction may have actually been a good thing, focusing too much on golf is certainly a real thing, but most people will attest that the fewer distractions you have, the better you can operate while chasing a goal.
Now that he's decided to let others fight about professional golf from a corporate and executive side of things he'll be able to put a bit more focus on getting the monkey off of his back that's been attached to him for nearly a decade.
Only 148 days until the first round of the 2024 Masters.
Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris and email him at mark.harris@outkick.com