Rory McIlroy provides sad update on state of PGA Tour merger

Rory McIlroy has been heavily involved with the PGA Tour’s announced merger with PIF for a long time. Even before that, he was at the forefront of the divide in professional golf. He was long an avid supporter of the PGA Tour, someone who went to bat for it and never shied away from talking down on LIV.

He once went viral for saying he wished it would go away. He even said that in the wake of the merger, reiterating that it would still be better if it dissolved. Eventually, he softened on the tour, got more involved with the potential merger, and became a sort of spokesperson of sorts.

While not the official spokesman of the Tour or the PIF or these negotiations, he often finds himself asked about it. This time, he didn’t have anything positive to say.

Rory McIlroy says PGA Tour merger isn’t close

When the PGA Tour, led by Jay Monahan, Adam Scott, and Tiger Woods, went to the White House to meet with Donald Trump and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, things began to finally look like they were moving forward. They’ve since ground to a hault.

“I don’t think it’s ever felt that close, but I don’t, it doesn’t feel like it’s any closer,” Rory McIlroy somberly admitted to ESPN. “Look, I think it takes two to tango. So if one party is willing and ready and the other isn’t, it sort of makes it tough.”

After that meeting, Jay Monahan responded to the reports that the interaction was negative and not very fruitful. “I think anything that the three of us [Monahan, Trump, Al-Rumayyan] have said is consistent with what should be said when you’re in the middle of a complex discussion to try and unify the game of golf,” the Tour commissioner said. “It doesn’t speak to my confidence level; it speaks to the goal. I view that meeting as a huge step. And so, I look at that very positively.”

Still, things have been at this level since June of 2023 when the merger was announced. For a brief moment, there was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s since faded into darkness. As McIlroy indicated, the end of that tunnel feels just as far away as it always has.