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.”
PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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.”
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…
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