On Friday, a meeting between the PGA Tour Enterprises Transaction Subcommittee and Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund took place in New York City, with many high-profile names attending.
Amongst them were PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, as well as Strategic Sports Group principal John Henry, Tiger Woods and four-time Major winner, Rory McIlroy, with a statement from the subcommittee claiming that “progress was made.”
Attending the meeting remotely from the Memorial Tournament, an event he is playing in this week, McIlroy gave a little more insight into what actually happened during the four-and-a-half hour call, with the 35-year-old claiming that “a lot of progress was made”.
After firing a one-over-par third round to sit outside the top 10 at Muirfield Village, McIlroy spoke to the media, stating: “Yeah, very productive, very constructive, very collaborative. I think those are probably three words I would use to describe it (the meeting). Yeah, it was really good. Definitely things are heading in the right direction. A lot of progress was made. I can’t really say much more than that, but it was really positive”.
He then went on to add: “So the meeting with PIF was three hours, but then the prep call before that was an hour and a half, so probably, like, four and a half hours. I would say — maybe not surprised, but maybe more encouraged. I think a lot of progress had sort of been made. But, yeah, definitely encouraged.
“In terms of the deal, like the financials and the legal and all that, I think more that was — those three calls a week were more to do with, like, their investment committee and SSG, so that was more — that’s what those calls were. But I think last night was more, you know, talking about the future of the game and the vision and that was where I thought there was a lot of progress that was made”.
McIlroy and Monahan prior to the RBC Canadian Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It’s been just over a year since the shock announcement of a merger between the PGA Tour and PIF, with many wondering what the vision of the professional men’s game could look like. Previously, McIlroy has called the possibility of a world tour as a “dream scenario”, stating that national Open Championships “definitely mean something else”.