‘The World Decided For Me’ - McIlroy On Accepting Saudi Investment In Golf

Rory McIlroy says "the world decided for me" in accepting that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would be taking a stake in professional golf, and now he's spoken of how the merge with the PGA Tour plays out to avoid LIV Golf becoming "bigger than it should."

After being wheeled out by the PGA Tour as their biggest defender against the threat of LIV, McIlroy was perhaps thrown under the bus more than anyone else when Jay Monahan cut a deal with PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Saudi wealth is entering almost every corner of sport, but McIlroy's concern with golf is, unlike with simply buying a Premier League team like Newcastle, the PIF is now buying up a piece of the actual sport itself.

With PIF investment now looking inevitable, the four-time Major winner is keen for them to work with golf's existing framework and not take over the sport completely.

“The way I’ve looked at it is if the PIF are really interested in golf and they want to get in the system, at least if we provide them with a pathway to play within the system where they are not taking over the sport," McIlroy told Off The Ball's Golf Weekly podcast.

“It neutralises any threat of LIV becoming something that it hopefully shouldn’t become. And they play within the boundaries that are set within our sport, and we all go from there.

“The only thing I would say about the PIF investments in other sports is that they went in and played with the ecosystems of those other sports.

“They didn’t try to buy F1, they didn’t try to buy the Premier League. Yes, they bought a Premier League football club in Newcastle and it’s worked out really well for them.”

McIlroy, who says he's met with PIF boss Al-Rumayyan, also explained that after being opposed to playing in LIV partly because of where the money came from, he's now accepted it as a way of the world. 

"You see everything else happening in the world, you see big private equity companies in the America taking their money - the biggest companies in the world," McIlroy added.

"There's a lot of whataboutism and all that stuff, but at the same time, if this is what is happening, then the way I've framed it is that the world has decided for me in a way.

"I mean, I've met the guys involved in PIF, I've sat with Yasir, I've talked to him. I don't know what his beliefs are and whatever, but at the same time I've lived in Dubai and the people there who are some my closest friends have the same beliefs as some of these people who we are criticising, so I'd be a hypocrite if I'm not criticising my friends in Dubai then why am I criticising these people?

"There are so many ways you can look at it."

We're still waiting for any firm details to emerge as the PGA Tour and PIF bulk out what remains just a framework agreement, but with opponents such as McIlroy now coming to terms with what the future of golf seems to look like, perhaps we'll see some sort of resolution in the near future.