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Rory McIlroy, like many in the golf world, sounds frustrated with how things are going between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the financial backer of LIV Golf.
McIlroy, speaking after his opening round at the Tour Championship on Thursday, thinks that the Tour and LIV Golf are simply running out of time to reach a deal.
“I think if it doesn’t happen soon, then honestly, I think PIF and the Saudis are going to have to look at alternative options, right?” McIlroy said from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. “I’d say that’s the next step in all of this if something doesn’t get done.”
While McIlroy is involved in the negotiations as a member of the Tour’s transaction committee, it’s easy to see why he feels that way. At least from the outside, it doesn’t appear that much progress has been made at all since PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan first announced the “framework agreement” for the partnership between the Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF last summer. That came after years of a tumultuous battle within the sport, where McIlroy was among the loudest voices against LIV Golf.
Negotiations flew past their self-imposed Dec. 31 deadline to finalize that “framework agreement,” and Monahan said this week at the Tour Championship that they still don’t have a timeline or a new deadline in place. While he insisted that talks are consistent and “enhanced,” it will continue to take time.
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“I just think that it’s gone on long enough,” McIlroy said Thursday. “We’ve got to try to — I mean, I think everyone is trying to find a solution. The solution is hard to get to.”
It’s unclear what specifically is holding up negotiations. According to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, significant “sticking points” have been related to the future of team golf and whether or not LIV Golf members could return to the Tour without discipline.
At this point, it’s unclear when a deal to reunite the sport will get done if it does at all. And from McIlroy’s standpoint, “some people” have been dragging their feet.
“I thought there would have been more progress made, which is unfortunate,” McIlroy told Golf.com earlier this week. “I think at this point, everyone’s just getting bored of it, just getting tired of it. I think it’s become a bit of a cloud over golf. But a very niche cloud, y’know?
“I wish more would have been done, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of willingness from some people to try to fix it.”