Rory McIlroy Explains His Resignation From PGA Tour Policy Board: 'I Couldn't Fit It All in'

While negotiations to unify the sport continue, McIlroy said he needed to return his focus to family and playing.

Rory McIlroy wants to be able to concentrate on the Masters next spring. He wants to be able to focus on family and golf and not be consumed by the off-the-course matters that have swirled around the game—and that he’s been intricately involved in—for the better part of the past two years.

That, in essence, is why he surprisingly resigned from his position on the PGA Tour Policy Board on Tuesday.

Understandably, the question came up on Thursday after he shot 71 in the first round of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Rory McIlroy explained after the first round at the DP World Tour Championship that he needs to return focus to his game and family :: David Cannon/Getty Images

"It just got to the point where I couldn’t fit it all in," McIlroy told reporters. “I’m thinking as we go into the next year, as I try to get ramped up for Augusta and all those tournaments, I just can’t see me putting the time the energy into it. If I feel like I’m not prepared going into those meetings then it is better off if someone else takes my place, who is able to put the time and energy into it.

“There’s only so many hours in the day and so many days in the week and I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now. Between trying to be a world-class golfer and a good husband and a good father. I’ve got a growing investment portfolio that’s taking up more of my time."

McIlroy turns 35 next spring and if he gets to the PGA Championship without having the Masters, he will have gone 10 years without having won a major championship—since the PGA was played at Valhalla in 2014.

The game remains in limbo as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia—which backs the LIV Golf League—are attempting to come to an agreement that would see a for-profit company emerge with all of their assets in play.

Following a PGA Tour board meeting on Monday at Tour headquarters, the official word was that the sides are still working toward that goal. McIlroy on Tuesday reiterated his desire for the PIF to be part of the system, even if there is other outside investment.

McIlroy has been vehemently opposed to LIV Golf and worked to help the Tour come up with a format of tournaments called Signature Events that will see top players rewarded handsomely in 2024—as they were in 2023 when they were called designated events.

He has also been behind the formation of TGL, the tech-infused similar golf league that he helped launch with Tiger Woods and a former Golf Channel executive, Mike McCarley. Six teams of four players have been signed with the plan to begin playing one night a week starting in January.

"I think when you get into a room people have got different views and different opinions on what should happen," McIlroy said. "Certainly, I had my views and my opinions, some people agreed and some people didn’t. But that’s the nature of where we are at and that’s the nature of sitting on a board.

"Not everyone is going to agree on everything. You have to try to compromise and try to come up with the best solution."