It's been over a year since the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced their shock merger but little progress has been made since then. Many players have spoken out about the future of the sport from both sides but there hasn't been many as vocal as Rory McIlroy.
He's been an advocate for the PGA tour and was part of major talks that took place this week in the Bahamas between the PGA and LIV alongside PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, as well as Strategic Sports Group principal John Henry and Tiger Woods as they all discussed the future of the merger.
McIlroy took part in these meeting remotely as he prepared for the Memorial Tournament this weekend and the US Open next week. Speaking after his third round at the Memorial Tournament, Rory McIlroy spoke to reporters about the several calls he had with LIV and the PGA during the week
Yeah, very productive, very constructive, very collaborative. I think those are probably three words I would use to describe it. Yeah, it was really good. Definitely things are heading in the right direction. A lot of progress was made. I can't really say much more than that, but it was really positive.
So the meeting with PIF was three hours. But then the prep call before that was an hour and a half, so probably, like, four and a half hours.
Rory McIlroy admits to being on over 4.5 hours of conference calls yesterday discussing the merger with the Saudi PIF & said it was, "Very productive, very constructive & very collaborative." pic.twitter.com/Zjh9RRA4Hz
— Chris McKee (@mrmckee) June 8, 2024
It was quite a shift in tone by McIlory to speak positively as he's been a staunch critic of LIV and has wanted nothing to do with them since they broke onto the scene.
McIlory spoke further about the deal itself and the discussions between both parties about the future of golf.
In terms of the deal, like the financials and the legals and all that, I think more that was -- those three calls a week were more to do with, like, their investment committee and SSG, so that was more -- that's what those calls were.
But I think last night was more, you know, talking about the future of the game and the vision and that was where I thought there was a lot of progress that was made.
The future of golf is still up in the air but it's good to see both sides talking to each other in a productive manner. Hopefully this can be sorted sooner rather than later.
