In a surprising turn of events, four-time major champion Rory McIlroy has declined from re-joining the PGA Tour policy board. The golfer claimed that some people on the board were “uncomfortable” with the talks of his return.

The 34-year-old left the golfing fans stunned in November 2023 when he resigned from the post as one of the six player-director in the PGA Tour policy board. He cited personal reasons and claimed he did not have the “time” and “energy” to invest in the policy board.

Almost five months after stepping down from this post, reports of him coming back to the tour policy board resurfaced. This came after Webb Simpson, one of the members of this PGA Tour body tendered his resignation and named McIlroy as his replacement.

It thus seemed that it was only a matter of moment before the North Irish golfer comes back. However, this will not be the case now. Speaking at the press conference ahead of the Wells Fargo Championship, Rory McIlroy claimed that things got a “pretty complicated” and “messy“.

It just got pretty complicated and pretty messy. With the way it happened it opened up some wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before. And I think there was a subset of people on the board who were uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason.

Rory McIlroy said in a press conference.

The World No.2 further suggested that Simpson should stay on the board and see his term out if people are not comfortable working with him (McIlroy).

I think the best course of action is if there is some people on there who aren’t comfortable with coming back on, then I think Webb stays on and sees out his term.

Rory McIlroy continued.

Anonymous tournament director wants Rory McIlroy to prevent Patrick Cantlay from “ruining” PGA Tour

While the news regarding Rory McIlroy declining to return to the PGA Tour was shocking, an anonymous tournament director went on drop a huge bomb. According to reports from Adam Schupak of Golfweek, the unnamed executive wants McIlroy to help and prevent Patrick Cantlay from “ruining” the PGA Tour.

It is no secret that there have been differences between Cantlay and McIlroy. The European golfer got into a heated exchange with Cantlay’s caddie at the Ryder Cup which led to fierce reactions from both sides. While the duo appeared to have moved on from the incident, this new development might cause some drama between the two again.

We need Rory back on the board. Had he stayed on he could’ve neutered Cantlay. He’s the only one with the power to neuter Cantlay. We need Rory to try to keep Cantlay from ruining the Tour.

An anonymous tournament director said as per Adam Schupak.

Cantlay is one of the six player-directors of the PGA Tour policy board along with Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Peter Malnati and Webb Simpson. He was also among those who recently took part in the meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan along with Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan.

It will now be interesting to see how this behind-the-scenes drama unfolds from here. With McIlroy declining to return to the board, how much more time will the “framework agreement” take to finalize also remains to seen.