Rory McIlroy says Donald Trump’s election “clears the way” for a PGA Tour PIF deal

Rory McIlroy said Wednesday that Donald Trump’s return to the presidency of the United States could help the PGA Tour and PIF reach an agreement to reunite men’s professional golf.

“Given the news today about what’s happening in America, I think that clears the way a little bit,” McIlroy told reporters at the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Trump said on the Sirius Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund that owns and operates LIV Golf.

The negotiations, which lasted around 18 months and went beyond the original deadline of the end of 2023, always faced a potential stumbling block at the Ministry of Justice. DOJ antitrust officials expressed concern about the potential deal, and other government officials expressed concern about a foreign investment of this magnitude.

But the Justice Department would work under Trump’s direction and his administration’s priorities, and he has made clear he favors a deal.

“Maybe he can get a deal done,” McIlroy said. “He has Elon Musk at his side, who I think is the smartest man in the world. Maybe we can do something if we include Musk too.

“Yeah, I think from the outside it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is. But obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He has a great relationship with golf. He is a golf lover. So, maybe. Who knows?”

LIV Golf has hosted six events at Trump’s courses in New Jersey, Virginia and Miami in its three-year history, paying Bedminster and Doral courses for the privilege, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner has reportedly received a $2 billion investment in his private Equity firm from PIF, LIV’s backer. Aside from the Trump family’s relationship with the Saudis and his enthusiasm for LIV Golf (he’s attended several times), the president-elect has never shown much respect for anti-competitive regulations in his business dealings. As owner of the New Jersey Generals, once part of the shuttered United States Football League, Trump fabricated an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL that ultimately led to the start-up league’s demise.

“The DOJ is a creature of the executive branch and, through its law enforcement and prosecutorial role, can exercise significant discretion and pursue the priorities of the current administration,” said Jodi Balsam, a professor at Brooklyn Law School and an expert in sports antitrust law. “When a new administration comes in, be it Harris or Trump, they can dictate the DOJ’s priorities.”

McIlroy, who sits on the PGA Tour Enterprises Transactions Subcommittee, said he was unaware of a deal being done (it was reported by a British tabloid last week but not specifically confirmed), although he indicated that progress was continuing to be made. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was in Saudi Arabia last week and McIlroy said Monahan would brief the subcommittee on Wednesday.

(Photo of Patrick Reed, left, and President-elect Donald Trump: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)