Mcilroy staying away from `messy' PGA Tour board situation
Rory Mcilroy won't be returning to the PGA Tour board, saying Wednesday that a plan to replace Webb Simpson was met with resistance from board members.
Simpson, one of six player-directors, recently offered to give up his seat — but only if Mcilroy were to replace him. Mcilroy would have needed board approval to be reinstated to a position he resigned from last November.
But Mcilroy said before the Wells Fargo Championship that conversations surrounding his potential return became “pretty complicated and messy,” which reminded him of why he left in the first place.
“I think with the way it happened, it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before,” Mcilroy said. “I think there was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason.”
Mcilroy's reinstatement would have been viewed as a chance to help improve the PGA Tour's stalled negotiations with the Saudi financial backers of LIV Golf.
The world's No. 2 player said when he stepped down he could no longer commit the time and energy that board work required with the PGA Tour trying to finalize an agreement with the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Unable to finalize a deal by the end of last year, the PGA Tour brought in Strategic Sports Group as a minority investor. That deal could be worth as much as US$3 billion.
“I put my hand up to help and it was — I wouldn't say it was rejected — it was a complicated process to get through to put me back on there,” Mcilroy said of potentially returning the board.
Simpson said he now plans to finish his three-year term on the board.