A year on from the framework agreement entering the public domain, most of the key stakeholders involved are set to finally meet in New York on Friday in an attempt to begin building a successful and harmonious future for men’s professional golf.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Strategic Sports Group principal John Henry – plus a handful of PGA Tour players such as Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, and McIlroy – are all set to attend a high-profile summit, be it either in person or via weblink.
Only DP World Tour representatives will be absent, with the European circuit ultimately relying on Monahan and the PGA Tour to defend its interests.
All three leaders and a few other businessmen will be in the room for the discussions, as will Woods and Scott given that they are not competing in the seventh PGA Tour Signature Event of the season.
Over the past several months, onlookers have criticised the fact that players appear to have been too involved in the whole “rebuilding” process – especially with regard to the PGA Tour.
But McIlroy – who actually considered making the short flight from Dublin, Ohio over to New York given the importance of the talks – admitted that despite being on the call, neither he or his fellow Major champions will be doing much talking on this occasion.
The World No.3 stated he prefers to leave the crux of a potentially game-changing deal to the businessmen.
Speaking after a first-round 70 at The Memorial on Thursday, McIlroy said: “There’s going to be people in that room on the PGA Tour side who are going to take the lead. And it’s not going to be Adam, Tiger or me.
“That’s going to be Jay [Monahan], Joe Gorder [chairman of PGA Tour enterprises], Joe Ogilvie [the former Tour pro and now player liaison] and John Henry. It’s going to be the business guys.
“We’re there to maybe give a perspective from a player’s point of view. This is a negotiation about an investment in the PGA Tour Enterprises, this is big boy stuff. And I’ll certainly be doing more listening than I will be doing talking.”
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