Cut Line: McIlroy exits, Fall wraps and deadline looms

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Unpacking Monday’s PGA Tour policy board meeting, the post-Tour Championship landscape, and an upcoming deadline that could challenge the calm in this week’s fall finale edition.

Made Cut

Rory’s resignation. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Rory McIlroy was finished. For two years, he has been the face and voice of the Tour’s opposition to LIV Golf and the influx of cash from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The Tour informed players that McIlroy had resigned from the policy board with one year remaining in his term.

McIlroy said, “I just felt like something had to give. I just didn’t feel like I could commit the time and energy into doing that.”

McIlroy’s zealous support of the Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan was shaken on June 6 after the framework agreement with the PIF. After a decade of Grand Slam misses, he understandably opted to focus on himself.

Made Cut-Did Not Finish (MDF)

“Outside investment.” That was the headline in a memo sent to Tour players early Tuesday recapping the year’s final policy board meeting.

The memo provided a general direction with officials “focused on our negotiations toward a definitive agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour as our priority” as well as “dozens of inbound prospects” from other potential investors.

The most important part of the two-page memo came under the headline “player programs,” which outlined the circuit’s plan to create “direct equity” in whatever PGA Tour Enterprises becomes.

“At the point we secure outside investment, this would be a unique offering in professional sports, as no other league grants its players/members direct equity ownership in the league’s business,” the memo read.

The Tour’s final destination in the negotiations remains a mystery, but this week’s memo at least provided a roadmap.

Fall reflections. When the Tour moved back to a calendar-year schedule, it left many in the fall portion unsure of what would become of the post-Tour Championship landscape.

While there are still plenty of unanswered questions for the fall stops, primarily sponsor support, the competition has been compelling and the “bubble” narrative has been largely digestible.

It remains to be seen if the new fall has staying power, but given the uncertainty the Tour’s move to a calendar-year schedule created, the fall delivered a sliver of clarity.