Rory McIlroy has disclosed that he is not privy to any finalized agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The PGA Tour has been in discussions with PIF since June of last year, with a proposed deal anticipated to resolve their ongoing dispute with LIV Golf.
Over the past weekend, it seemed a final agreement had been reached, with The Sun reporting that PIF was poised to invest $1.3 billion in the American-based circuit. However, ahead of this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links, McIlroy has downplayed the report.
He has been at the heart of the saga between the PGA Tour and LIV for some time now. McIlroy, who is currently part of a PGA Tour transactional committee involved in the talks, stated: “It’s the first that I’ve heard of it,” referring to the report.
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“I know Jay [Monahan] was in Saudi Arabia last week at the FII and was having some meetings. I think I would’ve heard if there was. He’s briefing the transaction committee tonight, so maybe some news comes out of that. But as far as I’m aware, I haven’t heard a thing.”,
The Northern Irish golfer made these comments amidst the results of the United States Presidential election, which saw Donald Trump return to the Oval Office. Trump, known to be an avid golfer, has hosted five LIV events across the breakaway league’s first three seasons.
Speaking to the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast before the election, the President-elect claimed he could resolve the dispute between the two rival tours in 15 minutes.
“I think it’ll come together. Yeah, I could certainly help, but I could probably get it done. I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done,” Trump boasted.
Rory McIlroy has gone through a swing change (
Getty Images)
McIlroy, speaking from the Middle East, responded to questions about Trump’s potential involvement in the ongoing discussions, hinting that both the former President and tech mogul Elon Musk could sway the outcome.
“[Trump] might be able to [help sign off a merger deal],” he suggested. “He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved, too. Yeah, I think from the outside looking in, it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is.
“But obviously, Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows? “But I think as the President of the United States again, he’s probably got bigger things to focus on than golf.”
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