Rory McIlroy RESIGNS from the PGA Tour’s policy board as the world No 2 gives up his role just hours after fuming: ‘It’s not what I signed up for’

• McIlroy has stepped down from his time-sapping and influential PGA position
• His departure follows two years of chaos and upheaval in the professional game
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

Rory McIlroy has resigned from his time-sapping and influential position on the PGA Tour’s policy board just hours after citing his frustrations with the role.

The development was revealed in a memo sent to players by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on Tuesday and follows two years of chaos and upheaval in the professional game.

McIlroy has been a key figure behind the scenes and publicly as the Tour mobilised to combat the threat of the LIV circuit. At times, he has indicated that those efforts have come at the cost of his own game, with his wait for a fifth major title due to head into a 10th year in 2024.

In answer to a question from Mail Sport about those commitments at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Tuesday, McIlroy had said ‘(it’s) not what I signed for whenever I went on the board’, but offered no hint that he had resolved to drop those responsibilities.

However, Monahan has since confirmed that the 34-year-old has left the post. His memo read: ‘Rory’s resignation letter clearly stated that the difficult decision was made due to professional and personal commitments.

Rory McIlroy has resigned from his time-sapping and influential position on the PGA Tour’s policy board

It comes just hours after McIlroy cited his frustrations with the role after answering a question from Mail Sport in Dubai

‘I hope you will join me in thanking Rory for his dedication and commitment to the Tour – first as a three-year member (2019-21) of the play advisory council, including as PAC chairman in 2021, and the last two years as player director on the policy board. During his tenure, Rory’s insight has been instrumental in helping shape the success of the Tour and his willingness to thoughtfully voice his opinions has been especially impactful.

‘Given the extraordinary time and effort that Rory – and all of his fellow player directors – have invested in the Tour during this unprecedented, transformational period in our history, we certainly understand and respect his decision to step down in order to focus on his game and his family.’

McIlroy described himself as a ‘sacrificial lamb’ in June after the Tour’s shock announcement that they were negotiating a merger with LIV’s backers, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. McIlroy had been LIV’s most outspoken critic and was key to the PGA Tour’s response, including the creation of ‘elevated events’ with vast prize funds for limited fields – a development that drew criticism from rank-and-file members of the Tour.

During his press conference on Tuesday, McIlroy said progress was being made towards golf’s controversial merger despite the outward appearance of a cluttered landscape. Few expect the parties to ratify the deal by the initial December 31 deadline, factoring for the US senate’s concerns around antitrust aspects of the merger, as well as the PGA Tour’s parallel efforts to bring in US-based investment to limit their dependency on the Saudis. Those quandaries exist to the side of the glaring question of where LIV might fit in the new set up.

‘I think if you were in the middle of it, you would see that there’s a path forward,’ McIlroy said. ‘It’s just that no one on the outside has any details, right. Loose lips sink ships, so we are trying to keep it tight and within walls.

‘Getting something done sooner rather than later is a good thing.’

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