We will always have Rory McIlroy. Thank goodness we have the Northern Irish golfer to shed light on the intense negotiations that are taking place between the heads of the PGA Tour and the PIF, the Public Investment Fund of the government of Saudi Arabia. Let’s not get it wrong, it’s not that McIlroy is indiscreet and reveals all the details, but at least he leaves some clues, very interesting keys to understand where the matter is going. Of course, as far as he can, he is the most transparent, more than the PGA Tour, more than Tiger Woods and of course more than anyone from the PIF.
Regarding the Friday meeting in New York, revealed by Rory himself and later confirmed by the PGA Tour, he explained that it was four and a half hours of work. The first hour and a half was exclusively between the representatives of the PGA Tour, precisely to prepare the subsequent meeting. Already with the PIF, the summit lasted three hours. A long and dense meeting.
McIlroy’s overall balance is very positive. “It was very productive, very constructive, very collaborative. I think those are probably the three words I would use to describe it. Yes, it has been very good. Definitely things are going in the right direction. A lot of progress was made. I can’t say much more, but it was very positive. Yes, I’m definitely encouraged,” he explains.
There are not many details, but at least he conveys an optimistic feeling, it seems that things are moving forward, that what could be a definitive agreement is being narrowed down. Rory added that the three meetings a week that the PGA Tour and PIF have been having in recent weeks have been much more related to financial and legal matters than anything else. “Last night we talked more about the future of the game and everyone’s vision and that’s where I think a lot of progress was made. I can’t say too much, but a lot of the things are similar to what we’ve been going around in the last two or three years,” he points out.
McIlroy joked about the fact that he is learning many things he didn’t know about the Justice Department, as well as investment agreements. In this sense, he revealed another of the keys why the PIF, beyond LIV Golf, wants to get into PGA Tour Enterprises, the new for-profit society formed by the PGA Tour with the backing of the SSG investment group. “At the end of the day, the PIF is a sovereign fund. They invest in companies, in different things and they want a return on their investment. That’s what they want. It doesn’t seem like they’re getting it right now within golf, and this… you know, hopefully if things progress and we get to a certain point, then hopefully they’ll see a future where that can happen, where they can start to get some return on their money,” he explains.
That is, in some way the PIF needs the PGA Tour to participate in a more profitable product than what LIV Golf is proving so far, and the PGA Tour needs to have the PIF as an ally to end an economic war in which it can hardly come out winning.
Beyond the meeting, McIlroy addressed two interesting topics. One has to do with audiences. He was asked why he thinks they have dropped. “I think golf is a recreational game and now there are more people playing. In general, people prefer to play than to sit and watch us play. Golf rounds have increased. Golf in general is thriving and at the same time there has never been a greater disconnection between recreational golf and professional golf, and I think that’s a big part of the reason,” he points out.
Finally, Rory is delighted to play the Memorial before the US Open because he believes it is the best preparation, but understands that due to the size of the tournament and the figure of Jack Nicklaus, it deserves to be held in an isolated week, without a Major ahead or behind, that it is a celebration in itself.
