PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Saying he believes it should have occurred “months ago,” Rory McIlroy on Sunday welcomed the news that player members of the PGA Tour Policy Board are set to meet on Monday with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, the backer of LIV Golf.
Board member Patrick Cantlay confirmed an undisclosed meeting earlier in the day and McIlroy, a former board member who once was highly critical of LIV Golf but has since called for the sides to come together, even went so far as to distinguish between the PIF and LIV Golf.
“Fundamentally he wants to do the right thing,” McIlroy said of Al-Rumayyan, the director of LIV Golf. “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 (Greg) Norman and those guys.
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“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.”
LIV Golf is in its third year and has signed several big-name players to lucrative guaranteed contracts, including three of the past five major champions—Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Cam Smith.
Asked how he viewed the distinction between LIV and the PIF, McIlroy said: “I think their disruptiveness and his—their disruptiveness, and then his ... I don't know what the right word is ... I guess his desire to be involved in the world of golf in a productive way.”
Nobody is quite sure what Al-Rumayyan wants, but it has often been suggested it’s a seat at the table amid the bigger world of golf. Aramco, the Saudi oil company, is a sponsor of women’s golf on the Ladies European Tour. And Saudi Golf is an entity that is attempting to grow the sport in a country of only a handful of courses.
McIlroy, who has been critical of Norman, the two-time major winner who is LIV Golf’s CEO and commissioner, offered no specifics but suggested the PIF—which is a fund worth in excess of $700 billion and has spent several billion dollars on LIV with no significant return to date—has a more in mind than LIV Golf when it comes to possibly investing in PGA Tour Enterprises.
“Look, they're a sovereign wealth fund,” McIlroy said. “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.”
Asked if there is a bigger picture with the PIF, McIlroy said:
“Absolutely. I think there's a way to incorporate—I think, you know, they're big on team golf and they want to see team golf survive in some way in the calendar. I don't think it has to necessarily look like LIV. I think in my mind you should leave the individual golf the individual golf and then you play your team golf on the sort of periphery of that.
“But, again, it's going to require patience. People have contracts at LIV up until 2028, 2029. I don't know if they're going to see that all the way out, but I definitely see LIV playing in its current form for the next couple years anyway while everything gets figured out.
“I don't think this is an overnight solution, but if we can get the investment in, then at least we can start working towards a compromise where we're not going to make everyone happy, but at least make everyone understand why we're doing what we're doing.”
Where the meeting is held and who attend is unclear although player directors were “strongly encouraged” to attending, according to a Golfweek report on Friday.
And that includes Tiger Woods, who is now a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board.
“He’s a player director, he’s on the board,” McIlroy said. “He absolutely needs to be involved.”
