“I Think That Clears The Way”– Rory McIlroy Says Donald Trump’s Election Could Lead To PGA Tour-LIV Golf Deal

For anyone upset about the results of the 2024 election, and now left searching for a silver lining from Donald Trump's decisive victory over Kamala Harris, there's always sports to bring America together! Oh wait. Never mind. Not the case in men's professional golf, where the best talent in the sport is divided between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf at the expense of both circuits' quality of competition. In a bizarre sort of way, Trump might be the ultimate unifier who finally brings about the long-await alliance between the PGA and LIV. Or at least that's the opinion of oft-outspoken PGA Tour superstar Rory McIlroy. In the wake of Trump rolling to a second term in the White House, Rory addressed the media and suggested that the golf-loving president elect could move things along toward a resolution. "Given today’s news with what’s happened in America, I think that clears the way a little bit. So we’ll see. He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved, too. I think from the outside looking in, it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is. But obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows?" https://twitter.com/NUCLRGOLF/status/1854154189854683241 Rory has served as the unofficial spokesperson of all PGA Tour players amid the LIV Golf disruption and mass exodus of major champions like Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, and many others. As the greater good of the game has suffered and LIV has refused to budge, though, Rory has softened his hardline stance against LIV and just wants a deal to get done. I've said this several times before, but there's just so much money in Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund that they could buy the PGA Tour itself several times over. It's an unstoppable financial powerhouse that will ultimately strike a deal with the PGA. Merely a matter of when. For Trump's part, he said on the Let's Go! podcast with Jim Gray and Bill Belichick that he could hammer out a PGA-LIV/PIF accord in no time. "I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done." As much as Trump loves golf, and as great as he fancies himself to be at deals — see the book Trump: The Art of the Deal — it'd be tough to see how a years-long spat between two massive golf leagues could be abruptly put to rest faster than Haliey Welch got Hawk Tuah famous. But hey, how many times has Trump defied and laughed in the face of the so-called odds before, only to come out the other side looking like a stable genius, to use his own words? You can't put anything past him at this point. You also can't put anything past Elon Musk. Not sure Rory's opinion that Elon is the smartest guy in the world is the widespread consensus, but if smarts equals money, well, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is the richest man on the planet. That obviously takes some level of serious smarts on Elon's part. He doesn't strike me as a man who has any time or care for golf, but the endless vault of PIF money and his close friendship with Trump are plenty incentive for Elon to get involved however he can. Rory's comments almost comes across as a punch-drunk fighter who's been in the ring too long. His brain is cooked from all the media exposure and exhausting PGA-LIV discourse. He just wants it all to end — no matter who needs to get to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, it's also reported today that Rory has been working on swing changes. https://twitter.com/jamierkennedy/status/1854142713349751040 Will we see a Rory resurgence in 2025? Maybe if he can focus more on golf — putting in particular — and not so much on the distracting LIV-PGA noise outside the ropes, he can get back in the winner's circle at a major for the first time in a long time.