CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy will not return to the PGA Tour Policy Board as expected due to concerns from other player managers about bringing him back, McIlroy said Wednesday.
McIlroy, who resigned from the policy board on Nov. 14, was expected to replace Webb Simpson on the PGA Tour Policy Board and the PGA Tour Enterprises Board of Directors.
“There’s been a lot of conversations,” McIlroy said before this week’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club. “It kind of reminded me partly why I didn’t do it [stay on the board]. So, yeah, I think it’s gotten too complicated and too messy.
“I think the way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that had happened before. I think there was a subset of people on the board that were probably uncomfortable with me coming back for some reason.”
Simpson, 38, will finish his term, which ends in 2025. Simpson said he intended to step down from both chambers to spend time with his family.
“I think the best course of action is if there are some people who are unhappy with me coming back, then I think Webb will stay on and complete his term,” McIlroy said. “I think he’s gotten to a place where he’s comfortable doing it, and I just kind of keep doing what I’m doing.”
Besides Simpson, other player managers on the tour’s policy board are Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. Former tour member Joe Ogilvie is the board’s liaison.
McIlroy, the world’s No. 2 golfer, joined the policy board in 2022 and was expected to continue in his role until 2024. The 35-year-old cited personal and professional commitments in making his decision to leave the board late last year.
McIlroy’s surprise reversal comes at a time when the PGA Tour is trying to negotiate a final agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which funds the rival LIV golf league. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PGA Directors met with PIF Governor Yasser Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas on March 18.
McIlroy previously met with Al-Rumayyan to discuss the future of men’s professional golf. McIlroy said Al-Rumayyan wanted to do “the right thing” with the Public Investment Fund’s investment in golf.
He said some PGA Tour members have expressed concerns about the possibility of playing a global schedule outside the United States and whether golfers who left for LIV Golf will be allowed to return to the tour.
With Simpson remaining on the policy board, McIlroy said he “remains optimistic” that an agreement with the PIF can be reached.
“I think Webb staying is a really good thing,” McIlroy said. “I think he has a really balanced voice in all of this, and I think he sees the bigger picture, which is great. My fear was that if Webb stepped down and I wasn’t the one to take his place, what would happen? Did it happen? Yes, I’m really happy Because Webb made the decision to remain in office and serve out the rest of his term.”
McIlroy, who grew up in Northern Ireland, said both sides would have to compromise in good faith to reach an agreement. He’s frustrated that the deal hasn’t been finalized because “we have a chance to get it done.”
While discussing what needed to happen to bring this fractured sport together, McIlroy invoked the Good Friday Agreement signed on April 10, 1998, which ended the political turmoil in Ireland and Northern Ireland that had occurred since the 1960s.
“The Catholics weren’t happy, the Protestants weren’t happy, but it brought peace, and then you learn to live with whatever was negotiated, right?” McIlroy said. “It was 1998 or whatever, and 20, 25, 30 years later, my generation doesn’t know anything different. This is the way it’s always been, and we’ve never known anything but peace.
“This is my little way, I guess, of trying to think through it and trying to get both sides to see that there can be a compromise here. Yeah, maybe it wouldn’t be great for either side, but if this is a place where you start a game… “Golf is thriving again and we can all come back together, so I think that’s ultimately a really good thing.”
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”