The Northern Irishman had long been one of the most vocal critics of LIV Golf, insisting in July last year that he would rather retire than play on the Saudi-funded breakaway, but has softened his stance on PIF in the last year. He recently admitted he is “impatient” to get a deal done and compared it to the difficulty of negotiations in the Northern Ireland peace deal in the 1990s.
“I think we’ve got this window of opportunity to get it done because both sides from a business perspective, I wouldn’t say need to get it done, but it makes sense,” McIlroy said.
“I sort of liken it to when Northern Ireland went through the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, neither side was happy. Catholics weren’t happy, Protestants weren’t happy, but it brought peace and then you just sort of learn to live with whatever has been negotiated, right?
“That was in 1998 and 20, 25, 30 years ahead, my generation doesn’t know any different. It’s just this is what it’s always been like and we’ve never known anything but peace. It’s my little way of trying to think about it and trying to make both sides see that there could be a compromise here.
“Yeah, it’s probably not going to feel great for either side, but if it’s a place where the game of golf starts to thrive again and we can all get back together, then I think that’s ultimately a really good thing.”