Rory McIlroy believes PGA Tour players that defected to LIV Golf can't just be welcome back into the fold by those who stayed put.
McIlroy and Tiger Woods had established themselves as the biggest supporters of the PGA Tour in its battle with LIV Golf, but were both kept in the dark about the stunning deal announced on Tuesday.
Fellow players reacted with surprise and a sense of betrayal at the news that the PGA Tour and DP World Tour were merging their commercial operations with the golf-related businesses of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV.
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When asked if he still had confidence in PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who reportedly faced calls to resign from several players in an “intense and heated” players’ meeting on Tuesday, McIlroy said he did.
He added: “I’ve dealt with Jay a lot closer than a lot of those guys have and from where we were a couple of weeks ago to where we are today, I think the future of the PGA Tour looks brighter as a whole, as an entity.
“What that looks like for individual players in terms of keeping a Tour card, bringing players back into the fold and that sacrifices other people, that’s where the anger comes from.
“I understand that and there still has to be consequences to actions. The people that left the PGA Tour irreparably harmed this Tour, started litigation against it.
“We can’t just welcome them back in. That’s not going to happen and I think that’s what Jay was trying to get across yesterday 'guys we're not just going to bring these guys back in and pretend that nothing happened'."
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