Rory McIlroy and the PGA Tour loyalists have been betrayed – where does golf go from here?

A range of emotions will have coursed through Rory McIlroy over the last 24 hours. Shock, confusion and betrayal from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s deceitful negotiations with the PIF’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan and the seismic move to “merge” the PGA Tour and its previously bitter rival LIV Golf.

McIlroy let us in week after week during golf’s civil war, he sacrificed his time and tournament preparation and resisted a reported $300 million signing bonus from the Saudis. Now, he’ll wonder, for what? We now know that Monahan used him merely to deflect and absorb scrutiny over his leadership as the sport’s legal squabble rumbled on, perhaps from the PGA Tour’s perspective uncontrollably. A habit of being reactive, rather than proactive, evidently backed the PGA Tour into a corner. And here we are.

It is not a stretch to say McIlroy jeopardised his quest for immortality in the game, accepting his role as one of the most prominent faces of the sport above success on the course. He was so close to glory last year at St Andrews, where rumours swirled and Cameron Smith eventually triumphed before making the controversial leap to LIV as the Open champion.

There is great irony in McIlroy emphasising legacy off the course, instead of coveting a fifth major championship and the euphoria of snapping his now nine-year drought on it. The exhausting and tedious narrative about “growing the game” and anything but money was played out in public as LIV Golf, which may now be remembered as the PIF’s trojan horse, was launched.

The Cleeks, a shotgun start, 54 holes and a quest to seize precious world ranking points, all a ruse to eventually walk the fairways and break bread with the powerbrokers of the sport’s biggest ‘league’. Now Saudi Arabia has its seat at golf’s table and with it the prospect of future business with some of the largest companies in the world. Don’t expect too much loyalty to team golf from this point on.

Monahan, the enabler, may wriggle free from his previous stances, but his decision to court the 9/11 community and seek public sympathy, by labelling LIV Golf as merely “sportswashing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation”, will surely haunt him.

"Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment,” has been Monahan’s immediate rebuttal to the understandable outrage of his hypocrisy.

Sport’s powerbrokers have rarely stood by their words, of course. Reacting to the changing nature of boxing over several decades, legendary promoter Bob Arum once said: “Yesterday I was lying, today I’m telling the truth.”

LIV players, including Phil Mickelson have revelled since the announcement with more than a hint of schadenfreude. Mickelson might claim to have itals won itals, yet there was genuine hostility towards Monahan and, should he want to continue playing competitively in 2024, then he must accept him as his boss once more. Though the hundreds of millions and his belief that he is now one of the most pivotal players in the sport’s history may soften that blow.

And what next for Tiger Woods? The most transformative player of all time helped fend off the imminent threat of LIV and stemmed the flow of the game’s most gifted talents to the rebel league. His flight to Wilmington, Delaware before the BMW Championship last year for a meeting between the world’s top 20 players was iconic. Yet now, Woods’ role in the game is unclear, even ignoring his physical struggles and the irreversible damage from his latest ankle surgery. The PGA Tour and the PIF will surely covet his approval though, making his role in the sport’s future fascinating.

Golf has never been pure and while the sordid antics of the previous 12 months have left a bad taste, we now know that McIlroy and the other PGA Tour loyalists’ efforts to stand behind tradition and values were futile.

Monahan always emphasised the civil war was about “legacy, not leverage”. Yet now his “framework agreement” with the PIF for this merger leaves a hollow sport and a murky future.