"I heard he was ready to step down earlier in the year” - Adam Scott shares his verdict about Rory McIlroy’s resignation from PGA Tour policy board
Rory McIlroy officially resigned from the PGA Tour policy board earlier in November 2023, and the decision didn't come as a major shock to Adam Scott. The professional golfer recently shared that he had heard a rumor about McIlroy wanting to leave the role prior to actually doing so.
Pressed with time, McIlroy decided he just couldn't handle the role anymore and walked away. Scott indicated that McIlroy might have come to that decision far sooner than he actually acted on it.
He said (via Golf Magic):
"I heard that he was ready to step down earlier in the year, but he stayed and saw the year out. Like his statement [said], I haven't talked to him about it since then, but he feels like he's got other priorities and he's giving a lot of time everywhere and he couldn't give the time to this any more. In one way that's being responsible rather than holding a board seat and not being engaged."
Scott is still a Player Director, so he will be losing McIlroy's teamwork in that aspect. He remains there with Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and others.
Jordan Spieth has already been selected by the Tour to fill out the remainder of the Irishman's term. He had been involved for a while, and as Adam Scott mentioned, waited until the year ended to leave so there was as little time to need a replacement as possible.
McIlroy, while being a player who doesn't mind being busy, had to admit to himself that his business investments, playing career, TGL and more took away from his ability to help the Tour in terms of policy:
"Yeah, I just think I've got a lot going on in my life between my golf game, my family and my growing investment portfolio, my involvement in TGL, and I just felt like something had to give. I just didn't feel like I could commit the time and the energy into doing that." (Via Golf Magic)
He felt like it was time and that he was leaving everything in good hands, from Scott to Woods and now Spieth.
Adam Scott: "PGA Tour policy board have a lot of work to do"
They will have to do it without Rory McIlroy, but things must be done by the PGA Tour Policy Board. It's an important time in the sport's history, and the Tour has a lot to do with the merger and more, something Adam Scott touched upon.
He said:
"It's really hard to know if the deal's going to go through or not. As everyone knows, there's four or five other parties interested in investing in the PGA Tour like PIF. So management have a lot of work to do to get some final deals on the table so the board can have a look at it and see if there's a deal that is good for everyone." (Via Golf Magic)
Things are changing rather rapidly, and 2024 is expected to be the culmination of all the changes. Adam Scott and Co. will be very busy trying to straighten everything out.