Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy has left his role as a PGA Tour policy board member citing frustrations over the difficulty of balancing between board and active professional duties.
As per The Mail Online, the development was revealed by PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in a memo shared with players on Tuesday, which read: “Rory’s resignation letter clearly stated that the difficult decision was made due to professional and personal commitments.
“I hope you will join me in thanking Rory for his dedication and commitment to the Tour – first as a three-year member (2019-21) of the play advisory council, including as PAC chairman in 2021, and the last two years as player director on the policy board. During his tenure, Rory’s insight has been instrumental in helping shape the success of the Tour and his willingness to thoughtfully voice his opinions has been especially impactful.
“Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory – and all of his fellow player directors – have invested in the Tour during this unprecedented, transformational period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down in order to focus on his game and his family.”
Two years after becoming the first international player on the board, McIlroy’s journey has been riddled with difficulties, the most notable being the PGA Tour going head-to-head against Saudi-backed LIV, who later surprisingly announced a merger despite McIlroy being a key critic of Saudi influence in the sport.
The deal has been given a deadline of 31 December, but is most likely to reach its conclusion sometime in the new year, as US lawmakers are currently trying to come up with a strategy on how to address antitrust concerns and limit the PGA Tour’s dependency on Saudi Arabia.
In a recent press conference, McIlroy said: “I think if you were in the middle of it, you would see that there’s a path forward. It’s just that no one on the outside has any details, right. Loose lips sink ships, so we are trying to keep it tight and within walls.”
