Rory McIlroy resigned from a role on the PGA Tour’s board of directors on Tuesday (local time), 

a sudden move that came as the tour was trying to finalize a deal to form a new commercial enterprise involving Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund.

McIlroy had not previously mentioned his decision at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai,

despite comments about his three years on the board during some of the tour’s most turbulent times.

In a statement, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Board Chairman Ed Herlihy thanked McIlroy for his dedication and loyalty over the past five years 

– two on the Advisory Council, one as PAC Chairman and the last two as the first player to serve on the board.

The four-time major winner decided to step down from his board position to focus on golf and spend more time with his family.

The Northern Irishman’s resignation is another sign of the turmoil that has engulfed the golf world since the breakaway LIV Golf tournament emerged in 2022.

“Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory has invested in the tour during this unprecedented transition period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down to focus on golf and spend time with his family,” Monahan and Herlihy said.

McIlroy, 34, was one of the PGA Tour’s most loyalists during the bitter civil war with LIV Golf, reportedly turning down a huge offer to join the organization with huge financial resources.

He was then among those shocked when the PGA Tour announced in June that it was forming a partnership with the organization behind LIV Golf, effectively ending the dispute.

McIlroy later revealed that he had no knowledge of the negotiations that led to the partnership between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

After consistently defending the PGA Tour in the LIV Golf saga, McIlroy made it clear that he was disappointed by a deal that was struck behind his back.

“It’s hard for me not to sit here and feel like a sacrificial lamb and feel like I pushed myself out and that’s what happened,” McIlroy said at the Canadian Open in June.

He also acknowledged that his efforts to fend off the billions of dollars that Saudi Arabia was about to throw at golf had been in vain.

Speaking in Dubai before his resignation was made public, McIlroy made it clear that he was no longer interested in serving on the PGA Tour’s board of directors.

Asked if he wanted to help shape the negotiations to determine what the PGA Tour-Saudi joint venture would look like, he replied: “Not specifically, no. Not what I signed up for when I joined the board. But golf has changed dramatically in the last two years.”

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Source: New York Post