Rory McIlroy believes Greg Norman has done Saudi PIF governor "a disservice"
Rory McIlroy fires message to Tiger Woods before hitting out at LIV Golf and its CEO Greg Norman.
Rory McIlroy has hit out at LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman by claiming he and others have done Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan " a disservice".
McIlroy, 34, was speaking to the media after carding a lacklustre level-par 72 in the final round of The Players Championship as he finished T19 on 9-under par.
The World No.2 was pressed by a pool of reporters for his thoughts on the confirmed Monday March 18 meeting scheduled between the PGA Tour's player directors and PIF boss Al-Rumayyan.
McIlroy stepped down from his role as a player director on the PGA Tour this season so he could better concentrate on his golf game and spend more time with his family.
Tiger Woods is one of six player directors on the PGA Tour alongside Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati.
Woods, 48, was recently named as the vice chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed earlier in the week how talks were "accelerating" between themselves and PIF.
That comes two months after Strategic Sports Group wrapped up a 3 billion investment into PGA Tour Enterprises.
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Under the terms of the PGA Tour and PIF's ongoing framework agreement, the PIF could still become a minority invester in PGA Tour Enterprises, which had been the plan since their shock 6 June 2023 announcement.
Speaking to the media about his thoughts on the ongoing merger, McIlroy admitted Woods must be in attendance at Monday's meeting, which is exactly what Scott said earlier.
McIlroy also spoke of his blossoming relationship with Al-Rumayyan, but not before telling reporters how he thinks LIV Golf and its CEO Norman have done more harm than good for the Saudi PIF governor.
The Northern Irishman believes there is a "big disconnect" between LIV and PIF.
Here's the full interaction...
Q. It's been confirmed that there's a meeting tomorrow with the player directors and Yasir. Do you welcome that?
RORY McILROY: Absolutely. I think it should have happened months ago, so I am glad that it's happening. Hopefully that progresses conversations and gets us closer to a solution.
Q. Does Tiger need to be involved in that do you think at this point?
RORY McILROY: I mean, he's a player director. He's on the board, so absolutely he needs to be involved.
Q. What you do hope their message is? What do you hope to take away from that meeting?
RORY McILROY: The players or the PIF?
Q. The players.
RORY McILROY: The players? That fundamentally he wants to do the right thing. I think I've said this before, I have spent time with Yasir and his -- the people that have represented him in LIV I think have done him a disservice, so Norman and those guys.
I see the two entities, and I think there's a big, I actually think there's a really big disconnect between PIF and LIV. I think you got PIF over here and LIV are sort of over here doing their own thing. So the closer that we can get to Yasir, PIF and hopefully finalize that investment, I think that will be a really good thing.
Q. What does PIF want do you think that's different to LIV?
RORY McILROY: Look, they're a sovereign wealth fund. They want to park money for decades and not worry about it. They want to invest in smart and secure businesses, and the PGA TOUR is definitely one of those, especially if they're looking to invest in sport in some way.
What do you make of McIlroy's latest comments on all things PGA Tour and PIF? Will a merger between the PGA Tour and PIF ever come to light? What do you make of McIlroy's game right now heading into The Masters next month? Will he finally complete the career grand slam? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.
