Rory McIlroy confirms shock PGA Tour U-turn with 16-word warning

Rory McIlroy has confirmed he is poised to return to the PGA Tour's policy board by declaring to Sky Sports News: "I’d rather the men’s golf professional landscape survived this, so I’m happy to do my bit.”

McIlroy, 34, resigned from his influential position last November citing an urge to just concentrate on playing professional golf and trying to complete the career grand slam. 

"Something had to give," he said after a near two-year period of being the de facto spokesperson for the North American circuit as they battled their noisy LIV Golf rival for control of the elite men's game. 

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But a picture later emerged whereby it appeared the Northern Irishman wasn't particularly happy as his voice wasn't being heard among the likes of Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Webb Simpson and Adam Scott. 

When he resigned from the role, the PGA Tour was still in discussions with LIV's backers, the PIF of Saudi Arabia, to ratify last June's framework agreement to bring the commercial interests of all the tours under the umbrella of PGA Tour Enterprises. 

It is understood that talks between the establishment and LIV are stalling and it is hoped McIlroy could break the impasse. 

McIlroy, according to the Guardian, is only returning to the role as the aforementioned Simpson has resigned. 

His return is subject to a vote that will take place later in the week. 

Simpson, it is said, has explicitly asked for McIlroy to replace him. 

That's likely because McIlroy's stance on LIV has changed considerably since its inception. 

At the turn of the year he has repeatedly called for the men's game to be unified. 

McIlroy has warned the divide is unsustainable and sounded the alarm further by highlighting the worrying trend of declining TV ratings across 2024. 

McIlroy was sensationally linked with an $850m move to LIV after another disappointing appearance at Augusta National. 

The inaccurate reporting from CityAM prompted McIlroy to reach out to Golf Channel to squash the rumour as quick as possible. 

McIlroy said an offer has never been on the table and he would never entertain the thought of leaving. 

The four-time major champion claimed that it was because of his relationship with LIV chairman, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, that an offer has never been lodged. 

"They know my stance," McIlroy said of LIV. 

McIlroy has met with Al-Rumayyan on numerous occasions and despite previously declaring he'd retire if LIV 'was the last place to play professional golf' he thinks highly of the Saudi businessman. 

He has previously described him as 'a very impressive man'. 

McIlroy will compete on the PGA Tour again this week alongside Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. 

He is scheduled to speak to the media on 24 April. 

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