Rory McIlroy is among the seven members of the newly created Transaction Committee for the PGA Tour Enterprise. The committee will be negotiating and taking forward the $3 billion merger talks with the Public Investment Fund. The membership comes just after McIlroy was denied the position of Players Director at the PGA Tour’s Policy Board.

From the outside, it can be seen that the Northern Irishman may still have the similar importance he had as the player director or would have had. After all, the Transaction Committee would be at the forefront of the PGA Tour-PIF merger. However, the 34-year-old’s statements reveal that the situation is much more complicated than one must have anticipated.

Rory McIlroy shares his thoughts on his new role

Previously, Rory McIlroy came forward and spoke about the complicated process of being selected and offered a seat on the Board. However, he also mentioned that some members might have been uncomfortable with his potential return as a Players Director.

The Transaction Committee membership couldn’t come at a better time. Rory McIlroy seems to be quite proactive when it comes to his new role. He has already started his process of easing the PIF-PGA Tour merger and got into the meeting with other members like Tiger Woods, Jay Monahan, Adam Scott, Joe Gorder, John W. Henry, and Joe Ogilvie. He revealed that they were on a long Zoom meeting on Sunday and “went through a 150-page doc about the future product model and everything.” Yet, McIlroy’s stance still doesn’t hold weight.

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Despite what the committee decides, it falls under the Players Director’s vote for the finalization and Rory McIlroy doesn’t have that. He agreed that he was on the Transaction Committee and was now involved in the merger, in whatever small way. But he highlighted the dark truth and said, “I don’t have a vote so I don’t… you know, I don’t have I guess a meaningful say in what happens in the future, but at least I can, I feel like I can be helpful on that committee, and that was sort of a compromise for I guess not getting a board seat.” 

The PGA Tour might have tried to compensate Rory McIlroy for not reinstating him as the Player Director. And with McIlroy, the negotiation with PIF may go smoothly, as the Northern Irishman has a respectable relationship with the PIF chairman, Yasi Al-Rumayyan. However, what about his relationships with the Player Directors on the subcommittee, like Woods, who was speculated to be one voting against McIlroy?

Is there bad blood between McIlroy and Tiger Woods?

Allegedly, three of Player Directors voted against McIlroy, which barred the Northern Irishman from a seat on the Board.  Supposedly, the three golfers were Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, and Patrick Cantlay. Rory McIlroy’s opinion on the PGA Tour-PIF merger clashed with that of one of the Player Director. Jordan Spieth doesn’t think a deal with PIF is necessary for the American circuit, whereas the Northern Irishman believes it should be the way to move forward.

On the other hand, with Cantlay, the 34-year-old revealed that he had an “average at best” relationship after the Ryder Cup spat. There remains only Woods, who also didn’t want him back and with him, he will be on the Transaction committee. However, Rory McIlroy was not worried about his friendship with the 15-time major champion. He understood that friends can disagree on an issue without ruining the friendship.

The 25-time PGA Tour winner revealed that, after his rejection, he had a 45-minute call with the 82-time PGA Tour winner. They ventured into different and difficult issues. In the end, McIlroy expressed, “There’s no strain there,” in his and Woods’s friendship. While McIlroy might have been compensated for his denied entry to the Policy Board, he still has a long way to go to be as important a member as he once was.