Rory McIlroy told to ‘f*** off’ in furious PGA meeting after Tiger Woods snubbed

The news of a merger being agreed with fierce rivals LIV Golf and the PGA Tour took both fans and players by surprise. The deal, which has been signed by both parties, follows an ongoing fued and legal battle between the two which has now been squashed. While the merger has been welcomed by LIV Golf member Phil Mickelson, rival players Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have been left blindsided by the news. Both players have been publicly outspoken against the Saudi-backed Tour in recent months.

It has since emerged that both Woods and McIlroy were not briefed about the merger. Both players have previously offered eye-watering sums to switch allegiances but have stood firm in their decision to stay loyal to the PGA yet were snubbed from being updated on developments behind the scenes.

While neither player has publicly commented on the news, McIlroy reportedly made his feelings clear in a recent meeting organised by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. The commissioner hosted a players’ meeting at the Canadian Open to discuss the news.

During the meeting at the Canadian Open an anonymous player told Golf Channel: “He [McIlroy] only responded to Grayson (Murray) when Grayson was going off on tangents, outbursts, saying like, ‘We don’t trust you, Jay! You should resign right now! You lied to our face!’

“I forget exactly what led to this, but Rory goes, ‘Just play better, Grayson,’ and that got a bad response from the crowd.” The report claims ‘two sources’ heard fellow golfer Murray respond to McIlroy’s comments by telling him to ‘f*** off’.

PGA Tour player Wes Bryan later said on Twitter: “They were cordial and pleasant post meeting. We chatted as a group of players and we were laughing about the comment. No beef or hard feelings either way”.

Monahan, who has been on of the biggest critics of LIV Golf, has since made a change of heart following the announcement. In a letter to PGA Tour members, which has gone viral on social media, he says: “Today is a momentous day for your organisation and the game of golf as a whole.”

Speaking to the media, Monahan was then asked if he regretted not speaking with players like Woods and McIlroy before signing the deal, he said: “Listen, again, what we’ve agreed to here is a framework agreement, and the binding elements are tied to the litigation. A lot of these details we’ve got to work through.

“If we had announced a definitive agreement this morning and I was calling them in the morning and I had made commitments on behalf of the PGA Tour and not had an opportunity to fully vet them with our policy board and with those two individuals in a larger group, then that would be a complete miss on my part, and I recognise that.

“But this was us reaching a framework agreement. We think it’s the right agreement. Obviously Tiger and Rory’s perspective is one that I understand very well, and it was part of my thinking throughout these conversations, and it will be a part of my thinking going forward.

“Now that we’re in a framework agreement, I look forward to talking to all of our players, including the two of them, to make certain that this comes off the right way.”