Rory McIlroy believes a peace deal between the PIF and PGA Tour is imminent but insists the bigger issue is how the landscape of men’s professional golf is going to be structured once an agreement is reached.
McIlroy has regularly sounded his approval of a potential world tour in the coming years and as the PIF and PGA Tour near a conclusion to their agonisingly long negotiations to try and repair the golfing landscape, the four-time major winner stressed the need for a united front on what men’s professional golf will look like once the deal is done.
When asked what the biggest obstacle for a deal being done between the Tour and PIF McIlroy replied: “Last year I probably would have said that the Department of Justice and now that doesn’t seem to be as of much of an obstacle anymore. I think from an investment standpoint, that deal should and will be done, but it doesn’t solve the problem of what the landscape of golf looks like going forward.
“I’d say the biggest impediment is maybe the differing visions of what golf should look like in the future.”
McIlroy plays on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR as do a host of players, predominantly Europeans, while the likes of Billy Horschel has been very supportive to European golf, and McIlroy thinks that a world tour might be established by the end of this decade.
“I’d say your five years was pretty spot on just with the landscape of like the media rights, for example, media rights partners are locked in to 2030. They paid for a certain product, players don’t want their prize funds to go down so you don’t want to renegotiate the media rights.
“Yeah, maybe by the end of this decade you might see something where it could come together, but that’s — I mean, it’s so pie in the sky and there’s so much stuff that can happen.”
The capacity for a world tour would most likely hinge on the appetite of the American players to travel but McIlroy was quick to cite the International Series as an example of how a world tour could work with the limited series on the Asian Tour benefiting from LIV Golf players looking for world ranking point events.
US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau is the first reigning major champion to play a competitive event in India and the international series event this week is expected to draw record crowds for a professional golf event in the country.
“Bryson’s in India this week. The guys want to go play, they want to — yeah, a lot of guys travel and play different parts of the world. But playing in America this time of the year is also very convenient. It’s a nice way to start the season.
“So yeah, like all this stuff is way beyond my pay grade and I’ll play where — thankfully in a position where I’ll play where I want to play and when I want to play and go from there.”
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