Rory McIlroy says the primary sticking factors holding up a deal between the PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of the rival LIV Golf League are the U.S. Division of Justice and conflicting views from gamers on either side.
The four-time main champion, who’s a part of a transaction committee engaged in direct negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, stated there have been completely different opinions amongst all of the gamers about the easiest way ahead.
The Northern Irishman additionally famous the U.S. Division of Justice, which has stated it might look into the deal to find out whether or not it violates antitrust legislation, was one other hurdle that was holding up negotiations.
“Division of Justice. Perhaps completely different pursuits from the gamers’ facet,” McIlroy stated Wednesday forward of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. “I might say perhaps half the gamers on LIV need the deal to get performed; half most likely do not. I might say it is most likely comparable on the PGA Tour.
“As a result of similar to something, everybody’s searching for themselves and their greatest pursuits. , it might profit some folks for a deal to not get performed, however it might clearly profit some folks for a deal to get performed.”
LIV Golf, whose mega-money contracts, profitable purses and no-cut, 54-hole occasions have managed to lure a lot of golf’s largest names, held its inaugural match in June 2022.
The PGA Tour, PIF and DP World Tour introduced a framework settlement in June 2023 to accommodate all their business operations in a for-profit entity. The framework settlement expired on the finish of 2023, however the sides continued to carry talks on how one can hammer out the small print of a deal.
McIlroy was not current when the 2 sides met final week in New York to additional focus on methods to unify the game, however regardless of the hurdles he talked about, he felt there was additionally room for optimism.
“To me it looks as if the folks which are actually making the selections are all rowing in the identical course, which is a very good factor,” McIlroy stated. “And even when they’re all rowing in the identical course, it nonetheless does not imply {that a} deal could get performed as a result of it is only a very sophisticated set of circumstances.”
