It Sure Seems Like Patrick Cantlay Is Icing Out Rory McIlroy, Who Now Says He Won't Join PGA Tour Policy Board

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Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay aren't exactly best friends. By now that is no secret. McIlroy called Cantlay a "dick" while looking back at the HatGate incident from the Ryder Cup, and he's said that the two just don't see the world the same way. 

That's particularly relevant because Cantlay is on the PGA Tour policy board, and multiple sources say he has an outsized voice on the 11-person board. McIlroy served on that board throughout the extremely tumultuous process of LIV golf's formation and then ultimate Framework Agreement with the PGA Tour last June. But then he resigned, ostensibly fatigued after a year-plus of acting as the de-facto spokesman of the PGA Tour. 

But then a few weeks ago McIlroy said there were some people who wanted him back on the board, perhaps because of his newfound let's-make-a-deal attitude. It's been a complete reversal from the guy who was arguably the loudest LIV critic; McIlroy now believes a deal is not only the right thing to do but acutely necessary for the good of the sport. The longer the divide, the less fans care on a weekly basis. That's McIlroy's belief now. 

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Only he won't be re-joining after all. (The Michael Scott snip-snap GIF comes to mind). The reason? Some people had an issue with his coming back. 

"(Discussions about rejoining) got pretty complicated and pretty messy and I think with the way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before," McIlroy said Wednesday. "So yeah, I think -- and it was, I think there was -- there was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason. Yeah, I think that the best, I think the best course of action is if, you know, there's some people on there that aren't comfortable with me coming back on, then I think Webb just stays on and sees out his term, and I think he's gotten to a place where he's comfortable with doing that and I just sort of keep doing what I'm doing. So yeah, I put my hand up to help and it was -- I wouldn't say it was rejected, it was a complicated process to get through to put me back on there. So that's all fine, no hard feelings and we'll all move on."

What could the two possibly disagree on? McIlroy has been vocal about wanting to get a deal done and creating a World Tour that would see the top players in the world go beyond the United States often. Places like Ireland, Spain, Australia, East Asia. That's not a desire shared by everyone. His insistence on getting a deal done and doing it quickly is also not unanimously held; Jordan Spieth has said that since the PGA Tour received an influx in cash from Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of American sports franchise owners and billionaires, that a deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund is not nearly as pressing. McIlroy disagrees and is frustrated by the lack of progress made since the Framework Agreement, which was announced over 11 months ago. 

"I'm impatient because I think we've got this window of opportunity to get it done, because both sides from a business perspective I wouldn't say need to get it done, but it makes sense. And I just think -- I sort of liken it to like when Northern Ireland went through the peace process in the '90s and the Good Friday Agreement, neither side was happy. Catholics weren't happy, Protestants weren't happy, but it brought peace and then you just sort of learn to live with whatever has been negotiated, right? That was in 1998 or whatever it was and 20, 25, 30 years ahead, my generation doesn't know any different. It's just this is what it's always been like and we've never known anything but peace."

Cantlay has said in the past that his sole focus in negotiating a potential deal is looking out for the entire PGA Tour membership, whereas McIlroy has advocated for a smaller tour that includes, say, 100 of the best players in the world.