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Rory McIlroy will not be returning to the PGA Tour policy board to help with merger negotiations despite Webb Simpson offering him his spot. McIlroy famously left that position in the heat of the LIV Golf debate, but Simpson was open to letting him come back on to be part of the path forward.
That is not what's going to happen, though. Simpson offered to resign, but McIlroy is now saying he's not going to take that offer and will remain a golfer only and not a member of the policy team.
Via Bunkered, the Irishman said:
“It just got pretty complicated and pretty messy,” McIlroy said.
He went on to say that how things transpired last time forced him to hesitate. He also believes some people wouldn't like to see him back:
“With the way it happened it opened up some wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before. And I think there was a subset of people on the board who were uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason," he added.
When McIlroy left, it was during a tense period in which the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour debate had raged to a burning point.
Rory McIlroy prefers to stay put rather than rejoin Policy Board
Rory McIlroy has done a U-turn after previously trying to help the PGA Tour negotiate its merger with PIF and find a path forward for the future of the entire sport.
McIlroy noted that the best course of action, particularly if some board members didn't want him back, is for Webb Simpson to remain in his role and see out the rest of his term. Rory McIlroy will just keep operating as usual.
He said he had only offered to help them during this time of transition, but it didn't pan out that way:
“I put my hand up to help. I wouldn’t say it was rejected. I would just say it was a complicated process to put me back on there so that’s all fine. No hard feelings and we’ll all move on,” Mcllroy said.
The merger is still up in the air as the two sides try to hammer out the details of an agreement and move forward.
