Rory McIlroy says resignation of Jimmy Dunne damages hope of golf’s peace deal

Negotiations between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – which bankrolls LIV Golf – have been ongoing since the shock Framework Agreement between them was announced 11 months ago.

The man who set up the deal, multi-millionaire businessman Jimmy Dunne, abruptly resigned from the policy board on Monday saying that “no meaningful progress” had been made, a move which came days after McIlroy’s return to the board had been effectively vetoed by a number of players.

“Honestly I think it’s a huge loss for the PGA Tour, if they are trying to get this deal done with the PIF and trying to unify the game,” McIlroy said when asked about Dunne’s resignation ahead of the 106th US PGA Championship.

“Jimmy was basically the relationship, the sort of conduit between the PGA Tour and PIF.

“It’s been really unfortunate that he has not been involved for the last few months and I think part of the reason that everything is stalling at the minute is because of that.

“It’s really, really disappointing and I think the Tour is in a worse place because of it. We’ll see. We’ll see where it goes from here and we’ll see what happens.

“I would say my confidence level on something getting done before last week was as low as it had been and then with this news of Jimmy resigning and knowing the relationship he has with the other side, and how much warmth there is from the other side, it’s concerning.”

PGA of America chief executive Seth Waugh conceded men’s professional golf seemed to get “messier every week” at the moment, but struck a more optimistic tone than McIlroy.

“I’m a very optimistic type and I’m sort of hoping it’s darkest before dawn, if you will, but I think the best thing for the game is a deal. And we’ve been very consistent on that front,” Waugh said.

“What has been an unsustainable business model [LIV Golf] has put pressure on other places like the Tour and quite frankly it puts some financial pressure on us, as well.

“I don’t think the game is big enough for two tours like that, and I think we are diluting the game in a way that is not healthy.

“I hope there’s a deal and I hope there’s urgency because I do think it’s doing damage to the Tour, to the game.”