Rory McIlroy has been the face of the PGA Tour through some of its toughest moments, mostly highlighting the time it was at odds with the breakaway tour, LIV Golf. However, after a strenuous year for all golfers involved in the drama, McIlroy decided to take a step back, going as far as to resign from the PGA Tour policy board.
However, Rory McIlroy is still very much concerned about the PGA Tour's future and cares about where the world of golf is headed next. For McIlroy, golf needs to be as international and inclusive as possible, and if the new entity comprising the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf will fulfill that, McIlroy might just be satisfied.
Leaving the whole political side of this uphill battle behind, Rory McIlroy feels like he has a clearer view of the entire situation.
“Getting out of all things political has definitely cleared my head. I don’t feel like I’m caught up in it all. I was on the board and knew what was going on. So I felt like I could speak to it. Now, if someone asks me, I can honestly say I don’t know what is going on. I can’t give the best opinion anymore. Because they aren’t based on absolute facts," he said (via Golf Digest).
McIlroy, who earlier criticized Jon Rahm's latest move to the LIV Golf series, has taken a step back to see the bigger picture and the positives of a multi-faceted entity.
Rory McIlroy talks about inclusion of more golfers, courses, and tournaments in the new golf entity
Rory McIlroy stressed the need to make golf a global force by giving tournaments such as the Australian Open and the South African Open a much higher level of priority considering the potential that they have.
The emergence of the new golf entity might guarantee that golfers will go global and golf experiences will be for fans all over the world.
"The Australian Open, for example, should almost be the fifth major. The market down there is huge with potential. The South African Open is another I’d have in the mix. Then you have places like Singapore and Hong Kong and Japan. What a market Japan represents. That would be another opportunity," he said (via Golf Digest).
While Rory McIlroy looks forward to the new and upcoming golf entity, for it to actually go through the PGA Tour, the Saudi Arabian PIF needs to release the framework agreement. Originally due at the end of 2023, the release of the document has been postponed to sometime in 2024.