Rory McIlroy was blocked from replacing Webb Simpson on the PGA Tour’s policy board – allegedly by Patrick Cantlay. Yesterday, though, the 35-year-old star was appointed to a newly formed transaction committee.
The 38-year-old Simpson will now finish his term, which expires in 2025.
“I’m really comfortable that Webb is staying in that seat,” McIlroy said. “Webb is a very levelheaded, balanced, big-picture guy. If it wasn’t me taking his seat, the next-best thing was Webb staying on. Yeah, I’m happy about that.”
Along with Simpson, Adam Scott, Tiger Woods, Cantlay, Peter Malnati and Jordan Spieth are player directors on the policy board.
Per ESPN – McIlroy, who resigned from the policy board Nov. 14, was expected to replace [Webb] Simpson on that board and the board of directors of PGA Tour Enterprises, the new for-profit entity the tour formed with Strategic Sports Group in January.
SSG, a consortium of billionaire American sports team owners and celebrities, made an initial investment of $1.5 billion — with up to $3 billion available.
McIlroy has grown frustrated with the lack of movement in the PGA Tour’s negotiations with the PIF, which finances the rival LIV Golf League. The sides signed a framework agreement June 6, and the deadline passed Dec. 31. The sides have continued to negotiate over the past four-plus months.
McIlroy said Wednesday that the idea of him going back to the policy board “opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before.” According to McIlroy, there was a subset of people on the board who were “maybe uncomfortable” with the idea of him returning.
McIlroy’s role on the new committee will reportedly focus on negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its potential investment in PGA Tour Enterprises.
The transaction committee will include McIlroy, Scott, Woods, player liaison director Joe Ogilvie, Fenway Sports Group’s John Henry, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, and Joseph Gorder, CEO of Valero Energy.
