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Rory McILroy said on Wednesday that an agreement to bring together golf not feel closer despite a burst of recent meetings between the PGA Tour rival and the Liv golf supported by Saudi.
The hopes of a breakthrough in the negotiations between the two circuits increased after President Donald Trump welcomed Golf PGA and Liv chefs at a White House meeting last month.
However, despite optimism after this meeting and an earlier summit of the White House, McILroy said on Tuesday that an agreement was not feeling imminent.
“I don’t think it never felt so close, but that doesn’t feel like it’s closer,” said McILroy at a press conference on Wednesday before Arnold Palmer Invitational At Bay Bill in Florida.
McILroy had been one of the most faithful criticism of golf liv after its launch in 2022, attracting a multitude of stars names from the PGA Tour with sumptuous signature costs and handbags.
The attitude of the Northern Irishman has softened since the PGA unveiled a framework agreement with the Saudi financiers of Liv in 2023, with McILroy recently claiming that the players of the PGA Tour must “recover” for the good of golf.
However, on Tuesday, McILroy suggested that progress towards reunification has reached a dead end in recent weeks.
“Listen, I think there are two in Tango,” said McILroy. “So, if one party is arranged and ready and the other is not, it makes things difficult.”
McILroy was also categorical on the fact that the PGA Tour could continue to operate successfully even without agreement that would bring together the best sports players outside the majors.
“I think that the story around golf, I would not say, needs an agreement, I think that the story around the golf will host an agreement in terms of having all the best players again,” said McILroy.
“But I don’t think the PGA Tour needs an agreement. I think the momentum is strong enough … The landscape may have been a little different when it has not done so in recent weeks now, and I think that an agreement would always be the ideal scenario for golf as a whole.
“But from the point of view of the PGA Pure Tour, I don’t think that necessarily needs it.”
The PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, awaited that there were no other meetings planned between the leaders of the rival circuits after the headquarters of the White House last month.
However, Monahan remains optimistic about the negotiation of an agreement, describing the meeting at the White House as a “huge step”.
“I think everything I said … complies with what should be said when you are in the middle of a complex discussion to try to bring the golf game together,” said Monahan.
“It doesn’t talk about my level of confidence, it talks about the moment. I consider this meeting as a huge step and I therefore look at that very positively.”
RCW / BB
