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Rory McIlroy firmly denied he has any interest in joining LIV Golf in the wake of a rumor that suggested he was on the verge of doing what was previously unthinkable, and it seems like he’s gearing up to reaffirm his commitment to the PGA Tour by reversing a decision he made last year.
There aren’t many people in the world of golf who went out of their way to fire shots at LIV Golf as frequently and fiercely as Rory McIlroy did when the upstart league first started poaching players from the PGA Tour. However, the Northern Irishman who currently only trails Scottie Scheffler in the Official World Golf Rankings decided to scale back his criticisms toward the end of 2023.
His decision to call off the dogs came around the same time he prematurely stepped down from the PGA Tour Policy Board in November after joining it in 2022, which was primarily framed as a move that allowed him to devote more time and energy to his golf game.
However, there were some people who asserted those developments implied McIlroy was quietly preparing to follow in the footsteps of other PGA Tour players who’ve made the leap to LIV Golf, and that speculation only increased courtesy of a report that surfaced in the wake of The Masters that asserted the rival league had offered him $850 million to defect.
McIlroy didn’t waste much time shutting down those rumors, and if there were any doubts about his commitment to the PGA Tour, it seems like he’s preparing to firmly put them to rest.
According to The Guardian, McIlroy is on the verge of making his grand return to the policy board after Webb Simpson opted to step down while saying he wants the four-time major winner to fill the void created by his resignation. That development would be contingent on a vote that’s currently slated for Wednesday, but there’s no reason to believe his readdition won’t be approved.
Based on comments he’s made, it seems like McIlroy is supportive of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger that was tentatively announced last summer before encountering a bevy of issues that still haven’t been adequately addressed, so it’ll be interesting to see if his renewed presence on the board has any impact on that particular front.