But for McIlroy, there was no time to take stock amid upheavals in the day job too during most weeks in May. McIlroy’s strength of feeling about the sports’ Civil War between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf was such that even amid tensions at home in South Florida he had been prepared to put up his hand and rejoin the players’ policy board.
However, a faction of other player directors, including Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth, expressed their unease at McIlroy being reappointed after he resigned late last year and the move was scuppered.
A sporting split with Woods, in particular, was almost as startling as that which he was enduring at home. The pair live nearby in Jupiter, South Florida, and are friends who play golf socially. But when the Northern Irishman recently agreed with Webb Simpson to replace the American as one of the player directors who will ultimately decide if there is a merger with the kingdom’s £60 billion Public Investment Fund, Woods joined the opposition.
Then, within 48 hours of his split with Stoll becoming public on the eve of the US PGA Championship, McIlroy was plunged even further into sporting diplomacy issues.
In another major blow, Jimmy Dunne, a key ally and investment banker who had orchestrated last year’s framework agreement between the warring parties, resigned from the Tour’s policy board.
Instead of talking about his own heartache, McIlroy was instead speaking out about the “huge loss for the PGA Tour, if they are trying to get this deal done with the PIF and trying to unify the game”.
“I would say my confidence level on something getting done before last week was as low as it had been, but 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… well, it’s concerning,” he added.
In the four weeks since, McIlroy has found time to somehow resurrect his marriage while continuing to juggle tournament commitments with shop steward duties.
Last week, McIlroy was spinning more plates than ever, competing and contending at Muirfield Village on the same day as rushing off for a long-awaited meeting between the PGA Tour and PIF. A year and a day since the surprise announcement of their merger deal, they were finally in a room together. The talks went well and McIlroy’s mood took a U-turn following that three-hour meeting. “I think a lot of progress had sort of been made,” he said. “Definitely encouraged, yeah.”
Negotiations continue between the power brokers but at home McIlroy’s straight-talking diplomacy appears to have borne fruit. Having restored one status quo, McIlroy can only hope that his near decade-long barren run in the majors will also soon be fixed.