LIV critic McIlroy quits PGA Tour board role

Rory McIlroy has made the decision to resign from the PGA Tour’s board, citing his disenchantment with the role amid the tour’s acrimonious battle with Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

In a statement released late Tuesday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and board chairman Edward Herlihy revealed that the four-time major winner had opted to step away from the board in order to focus on his golf career and to spend more time with his family.

McIlroy’s resignation further underscores the turmoil that has engulfed the golfing world since the emergence of the LIV Golf circuit last year.

“Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory — and all of his fellow player directors — have invested in the tour during this unprecedented, transformational period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down in order to focus on his game and his family,” Monahan and Herlihy said in the statement on the PGA Tour website.

The 34-year-old McIlroy had been a staunch supporter of the PGA Tour during its contentious civil war with LIV, reportedly turning down a substantial offer to join the free-spending series.

However, McIlroy later revealed he had no knowledge of the talks that led to the tie-up between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

McIlroy expressed his feelings of betrayal after having vigorously supported the PGA Tour during the LIV saga, stating, “It’s hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I’ve put myself out there and this is what happens.” He also admitted that attempting to fend off Saudi Arabia’s financial influence had become futile.

Speaking in Dubai on Tuesday before his resignation from the PGA Tour board had been made public, McIlroy made it clear he was no longer enthusiastic about his role as a board member and had no desire to be a part of shaping negotiations that would determine the future of the PGA Tour-Saudi joint venture.