Rory McIlroy believes Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election could ‘clear the way’ to a merger finally being struck between golf’s warring tours.
The PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, who bankroll the rival LIV circuit, have been trapped in a slow-burning negotiation for the past 16 months, with the US Department of Justice cited as a major obstacle its over concerns a deal would breach antitrust laws.
With Trump poised to reassume control of the White House, and having vowed this week that he could clear broker an agreement between the parties in ‘the better part of 15 minutes’, it is feasible the stalemate will untangle itself.
McIlroy said on Wednesday: ‘Obviously given today’s news with what’s happened in America, I think that clears the way a little bit. So we’ll see.’
When asked about Trump’s 15-minute claim, McIlroy added: ‘He might be able to. 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.
Rory McIlroy believes Donald Trump’s win can ‘clear the way’ for a PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger
Trump defeated Kamala Harris in this week’s election to secure a return to the White House
‘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.’
Trump’s links to LIV were illustrated in a surreal manner on Wednesday when he invited Bryson DeChambeau on the stage during his victory speech.
He has also hosted a number of LIV Golf events at his courses over recent years. Speaking recently on the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast with Jim Gray and Bill Belichick, Trump was asked if he would try and help both sides come to an agreement.
Elon Musk – whom McIlroy considers ‘the smartest man in the world’ – has supported Trump
The Northern Irishman is pictured alongside LIV Golf chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan
He admitted it would not be a priority – ‘I’m going to really work on other things, to be honest with you. I think we have much bigger problems than that’ – but the President-elect did express a desire to bring golf’s factions together.
‘I do think we should have one tour, and they should have the best players in that tour,’ he added.
‘It would be nice if they could all play together. It’s terrible when somebody’s shut out of a major. It’s terrible. But they’re very happy with Saudi. They’re over there and they’re very happy about it. They really are. It’s amazing.
‘If you speak to them, they’re happy with their decisions. They made more money than they probably could ever have made. They got checks from, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. So it’s hard to say: “I’m going to be happy because I can’t play in a certain location.” That’s not that important.
‘But 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.’
