Rory McIlroy losing confidence in PGA-LIV merger after Jimmy Dunne's resignation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Without Jimmy Dunne on the PGA Tour policy board, Rory McIlroy said he believes a discussed merger with LIV Golf is moving in the wrong direction.

Dunne resigned his position on the policy board earlier this week, ending what he'd started as one of the original negotiators bridging communications between the rival golf circuits and helping finalize the "framework agreement" made public on June 6, 2023.

"Honestly I think it's a huge loss for the PGA Tour, if they are trying to get this deal done with the PIF (Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund) and trying to unify the game," McIlroy said Wednesday at Valhalla Golf Club, site of the 2024 PGA Championship.

McIlroy, who resigned a position on the policy board late last year, recently was named to a new transactional committee to steer negotiations with the PIF, which funds LIV Golf. That committee also includes Tiger Woods -- he maintains a seat on the policy board as well -- who called Dunne's departure a "loss" for the tour earlier this week.

McIlroy echoed what Dunne shared in his resignation letter, which claimed no "meaningful progress" has been made in negotiations since they began.

"I think the tour is in a worse place because of it," McIlroy said of Dunne's resignation. " ... I would say my confidence level on something getting done before last week was, you know, 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."