Golf star Rory McIlroy has resigned from the PGA Tour's board in order to concentrate on his game and spend more time with his family, multiple US media reports said Tuesday.
The New York Times cited a statement from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and board chairman Edward Herlihy confirming McIlroy's decision to step down.
"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," Monahan and Herlihy said in the statement.
McIlroy's resignation is another sign of the turmoil that has gripped golf since the emergence of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf circuit last year.
The 34-year-old four-time major winner had been one of the staunchest allies of the PGA Tour during its bitter civil war with LIV, reportedly turning down a huge offer to join the free-spending series.
However McIlroy was among those players left stunned in June when the PGA Tour announced that it was forming a joint company with LIV's Saudi paymasters, effectively bringing the dispute to an end.
McIlroy later revealed he had no knowledge of the talks that led to the tie-up between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
After relentlessly going in to bat on behalf of the PGA Tour during the LIV saga, McIlroy made it plain he felt let down by a deal sealed behind his back.
"It's hard for me to not sit up here and feel somewhat like a sacrificial lamb and feeling like I've put myself out there and this is what happens," McIlroy said at the Canadian Open in June.
However McIlroy admitted that attempting to fend off the billions Saudi Arabia was prepared to throw at golf had become futile.
"Honestly, I've just resigned myself to the fact that this is, you know, this is what's going to happen," he said.
"It's very hard to keep up with people that have more money than anyone else. And, again, if they want to put that money into the game of golf, then why don't we partner with them and make sure that it's done in the right way? And that's sort of where my head's at."
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