Rory McIlroy says he welcomes the upcoming meeting between PGA Tour players and representatives from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and claims there's a big disconnect between the PIF and LIV Golf.
Patrick Cantlay confirmed the meeting was set for Monday in an interview with Sports Illustrated, and while McIlroy believes the meeting should have happened "months ago" he is hopeful that it "gets us closer to a solution".
The four-time Major winner has called for the golf world to unify over recent months and admitted that fans had become fatigued of golf's fracture, where all of the world's top players rarely compete against each other due to the divide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
"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," McIlroy said of the upcoming meeting after his T19 finish at the Players Championship.
The Northern Irishman hopes that PGA Tour representatives see that PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan "wants to do the right thing."
"The players? That fundamentally he [Al-Rumayyan] wants to do the right thing," he said on what he hopes the players get out of the meeting.
"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."
And what are PIF's motives? Parking money in "secure" businesses and not having to worry about it, the World No.2 says.
"Look, they're a sovereign wealth fund. They want to park money for decades and not worry about it," McIlroy said at TPC Sawgrass.
"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."
Rory McIlroy's comments following a meeting with LIV Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, "I definitely see LIV playing in its current form for the next couple of years while everything gets figured it." Rory was also careful to tap dance around any negative comments about Yasir. pic.twitter.com/pggR9KtYARMarch 18, 2024
The four-time Major champion also discussed the future of team golf and hinted that any sort of unity in the game could still take years.
"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," he said.
"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."
McIlroy finished at nine-under-par at TPC Sawgrass, where he made a record 26 birdies over the four days but hit it in the water five times and failed to build on his opening 65, which put him as first round co-leader.
"I did the same thing at the back end of 2020 I remember, the back end of the COVID year I was making a ton of birdies and making a ton of mistakes, as well, and it was just a matter of trying to figure out a way to keep the bogeys off the card and still make the birdies," he said.
"So, yeah, look, it's not all bad. It could be a lot worse, I guess. If these are the worse finishes that I'm going to have 20ths, you know, I feel like that's my floor and I haven't quite got to the golf that I've wanted to play to get to my ceiling.
"Hopefully, over the next few weeks I can work at it and get closer to that level of golf."
