Report: Faction of PGA Tour policy board upset with Rory McIlroy's expected return
According to Golfweek, Rory McIlroy's expected return to the PGA Tour's policy board to help expedite LIV Golf peace talks has upset a faction of players.
A faction of players on the PGA tour's policy board are reportedly less than enthused at the prospect of Rory McIlroy returning to the fold five months after he quit.
McIlroy, 34, resigned from the position last November citing personal and professional reasons.
In public, he stated that 'something had to give' as he was being pulled in too many directions.
But a picture later emerged whereby McIlroy wasn't thrilled with the fact his voice wasn't being heard in board meetings.
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This was illustrated when he admitted he felt like he was banging his head 'against a brick wall'.
He later took exception to comments made by his replacement, Jordan Spieth, who stated that it wasn't entirely necessary for the PGA Tour to strike a deal with LIV's Saudi financiers given the $1.5bn cash injection by Strategic Sports Group in PGA Tour Enterprises.
McIlroy later said he exchanged some 'frank' words with Spieth.
"If I were PIF and I was hearing that coming from here, the day after doing this SSG deal, it wouldn't have me too happy," McIlroy said of Spieth's words.
Fast-forward a few months and it appears the PGA Tour and Public Investment Fund are at a stalemate.
European Tour Group chief executive Guy Kinnings made the alarming admission earlier in the week that officials from the PGA Tour, PIF and LIV Golf are yet to formally meet.
According to multiple publications, officials from SSG and PIF asked specifically for McIlroy to return.
Webb Simpson has obliged, giving up his seat.
But it remains to be seen whether McIlroy will be given the green light to return.
And according to Golfweek's Eamon Lynch, but there are some players on the board who are not thrilled with the news.
McIlroy, the report states, is seen as 'allied with those who engineered the framework agreement last June'.
"Sponsors and fans might welcome the Tour’s only active needle-mover getting involved anew, but others won’t be thrilled at the prospect. A small faction on the board sees McIlroy as allied with those who engineered the Framework Agreement last June, and also view his publicly stated position — that a Saudi compromise is both essential and urgent — as incompatible with their positions, the particulars of which they haven’t yet revealed for the record."
McIlroy has acknowledged that he might not be wanted back in the room.
Before the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, he said: "I think I can be helpful. 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. But only if people want me involved, I guess."
He added: "If it was something that other people wanted, I would gladly take that seat."
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