Looking Back at Rory McIlroy & Jordan Spieth’s Awkward Interactions as Outrageous Rumors Come Out

Not everyone wants Rory McIlroy back on the PGA Tour policy board. That’s the moot point that emerged after the puzzling few days. Webb Simpson wanted to resign from his chair as the player director. The former US Open champion also wished the Ulsterman to take over from him. 

There was a roadblock. Actually, three roadblocks, per some sources- Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods, and Jordan Spieth. The first name sparks no surprise; McIlroy admitted he had an average best relationship with Cantlay. As for Woods, sources told Golf Digest, that they don’t see eye-to-eye in the merger agreement. Whereas, Spieth, who replaced McIlroy on the board, has differed on matters previously. As their names once again get thrown into the mix, we look at the three controversial moments from the past few months.

Spieth and McIlroy differed over PIF’s importance

Just days after the PGA Tour chalked up a deal with the Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of billionaire sports team owners, Spieth obviated the need to bring PIF on board. “I don’t think that it’s [PIF investment] needed. I think the positive would be a unification, but I think that, like I mentioned before, I just think it’s something that is almost not even worth talking about right this second given how timely everything would be to try to get it figured out.” 

However, McIlroy questioned the timeliness of the comment. “I absolutely know what he was saying and what he was trying to say. But if I were PIF, and I was hearing that coming from here, the day after doing this SSG deal, it wouldn’t have made me too happy, I guess?” The two, though, sorted things out over a lengthy phone call, and Jordan Spieth reverted a bit from his earlier stance.

Puzzling rules controversy at the PLAYERS

Rory McIlroy’s drive on the par-4, 451-yard seventh bounced on a blind spot before plunging into the water. Since there were no TV cameras, players and match officials didn’t have any conclusive proof to determine the exact place. 

Viktor Hovland first pointed out there was no way to be sure. Jordan Spieth later chimed in. The 13-time PGA Tour winner said some spectators believe the ball first hit the ground inside the hazard line. Whether Mcllroy and his caddie, most importantly, were ‘adamant’. The ball dropped outside. 

Eventually, everyone agreed that the Ulsterman should drop his ball at the safest place possible. “I think Jordan was just trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing,” the 24-time PGA Tour winner said later. The discussion, though, went over 8 minutes.

Rory McIlroy called out the PGA Tour policy board for inaction 

Rory McIlroy hoped to see more progress in the merger agreement. The four-time major winner was disappointed at the tardiness of the board. “I don’t think there’s been much progress made in the last eight months, and I was hopeful that there would be,” McIlroy said last month.

Since McIlroy’s departure in November, the PGA Tour has inked a deal with SSG. The only significant movement on the merger side was Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s pre-Masters meeting with the player-directors of the PGA Tour policy board. Tiger Woods dubbed the meeting positive. McIlroy hoped he could help if everyone wanted him. The Ulsterman had connections in the ecosystem.

But not everybody wants him back, it appears. Rory McIlroy, in a telling conversion, revealed it might have opened up ‘scar tissue’ and bad memories.