After another crushing runner-up finish, this time at last week’s Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down, Rory McIlroy is teeing it up at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in England, one of the biggest events on the DP World Tour schedule. As expected, the Northern Irishman was once again asked about the PGA Tour-PIF deal.
In regards to the holdups on unifying the game, McIlroy said half the players on both tours don’t want it to happen.
“Department of Justice. Maybe different interests from the players’ side. I’d say, it’s pretty similar. I’d say maybe half the players on LIV want the deal to get done, half probably don’t. I’d say it’s probably similar on the PGA Tour,” he said. “Because just like anything, everyone’s looking out for themselves and their best interests. You know, it would benefit some people for a deal not to get done, but it would obviously benefit some people for a deal to get done.
“Yeah, I think there’s different opinions amongst the players about what should happen, and I think when you have a members’ run organization, it complicates things a little bit, especially when some of those players are having to make decisions on the business side of things. So those are the two. I think the tours want it to happen. The investors certainly want it to happen because they can see the benefit for themselves.
“But right now, it’s DOJ and differing opinions of the players.”
BMW PGA Championship: Photos from star-studded pro-am
Last week, PGA Tour officials flew to New York to meet with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The two parties are allegedly working on finalizing terms of a deal that would inject more than $1 billion from the PIF into PGA Tour Enterprises, the newly created for-profit entity launched earlier this year.
At last month’s Tour Championship at East Lake, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had this to say about the ongoing discussions:
“As it relates to any details of the conversations that we’re having with the Public Investment Fund, I’m not going to disclose details. I’m not going to get into specifics.
“I’m not going to negotiate details in public or disclose details or specifics. All I can say is that conversations continue, and they’re productive.
“When you get into productive conversations, that enhances the likelihood of positive outcomes, and that enhances the spirit of those very conversations. I think that’s where things stand.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: What’s holding back the PGA Tour-PIF deal? Rory McIlroy says half the players don’t want it
