Rory McIlroy believes Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election could “clear the way” for a merger to finally be achieved between the warring golf circuits.
The PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which finances rival circuit LIV, have been locked in a slow negotiation for the past 16 months, with the US Department of Justice citing concerns about a deal as a major obstacle. violate antitrust laws.
With Trump poised to retake control of the White House, and having promised this week that he could negotiate a deal between the parties in “the better part of 15 minutes,” the impasse is likely to resolve itself.
McIlroy said Wednesday: “Obviously, given the news today about what happened in the United States, 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 do it.” He has Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, by his side. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved too.
Rory McIlroy believes Donald Trump’s victory can “clear the way” for a PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger
Trump defeated Kamala Harris in this week’s election to secure his return to the White House.
‘Yeah, I think from the outside, it’s probably a little less complicated than it really is.
‘But obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. It has a great relationship with golf. He is a golf lover. So maybe. Who knows?
“But I think as president of the United States again, he probably has more important things to focus on than golf.”
In September, McIlroy said a 50-50 split between players on both sides and the U.S. Department of Justice represented the biggest obstacles to reaching a deal. The Department of Justice has already forced a non-solicitation clause to be removed from the framework agreement. But the president can influence the Justice Department’s priorities.
Trump’s ties to LIV were surreally illustrated Wednesday when he invited Bryson DeChambeau on stage during his victory speech.
It has also hosted several LIV Golf events at its courses in recent years. speaking recently in the program ‘Let’s go!’ podcast with Jim Gray and Bill BelichickTrump was asked if he would try to help both sides reach a deal.
He admitted it wouldn’t be a priority, insisting: “To be honest, I’m really going to work on other things.” “I think we have much bigger problems than that.”
But the president-elect did express his desire to unite golf’s factions.
Elon Musk, whom McIlroy considers “the smartest man in the world,” has supported Trump
The Northern Irishman appears alongside LIV Golf boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
“I think we should have a tour and they should have the best players on that tour,” he added.
‘It would be nice if they could all play together. It’s terrible when someone is excluded from a specialty. It’s terrible. But they are very happy with Saudi Arabia. They are there and they are very happy about it. They really are. It’s amazing.
‘If you talk to them, they are happy with their decisions. They made more money than they probably ever could have made. They received checks worth, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s why it’s hard to say, “I’m going to be happy because I can’t play in a certain place.” That’s not so important.
But I think everything will be fine. Yes, it could certainly help, but it could probably be achieved. I would say it would take me almost 15 minutes to close that deal.”