Tiger Woods ‘votes AGAINST Rory McIlroy’s return to the PGA Tour board’ – amid claims their relationship has ‘soured’ over their ‘different views on the future of golf’… as peace talks with Saudi-backed LIV Golf rumble on

Tiger Woods has reportedly voted against the reinstatement of Rory McIlroy to the PGA Tour policy council as the organization seeks to negotiate a deal with Saudi-backed leading group LIV Golf.

It was confirmed on Thursday that McIlroy, who resigned from the PGA Tour board in November due to frustrations with the role, would not return to the position at world number 2, saying ‘old wounds had reopened’.

Webb Simpson, who will resign from both the PGA Tour policy council and his position as director of PGA Tour Enterprises, had indicated that McIlroy would take over both of his roles.

Despite, The Telegraph reports that the remaining five player executives on the board – consisting of Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Peter Malnati, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth – voted against the decision to reintegrate McIlroy.

The outlet claims that Woods, a long-standing ally of McIlroy, was among those who voted against the four-time major winner’s inclusion, with the vote being 3-2 to exclude the 35-year-old from the board. . The other two members who voted against McIlroy’s reinstatement have not yet been identified.

Webb Simpson would leave his role on the board and ask McIlroy (pictured) to take over

Woods and McIlroy have been longtime allies, but opinions may differ on the PGA Tour LIV merger

It appears that following discussions with current board members about a return, McIlroy’s view on a merger with LIV Golf’s backers – the £60bn Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund – did not fit with that of the board.

While McIlroy has previously urged the warring parties in the Gulf world to reach an agreement on the peace talks. But that runs counter to the views of Woods, who previously claimed the PGA Tour doesn’t need LIV’s money following the PGA’s recent deal with Strategic Sports Group.

‘Financially we don’t do that [need that] straight away. The amounts they came up with and what we initially agreed on in the framework agreement are all the same figures. Anything beyond that will obviously be above and beyond. We are in a great position right now.”

McIlroy has been one of the breakaway circuit’s staunchest critics and has reversed his previous positions, claiming that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf need to reach an agreement quickly and that golf’s current ecosystem was “not sustainable.” “I think I can be helpful,” he said in April, when asked what he could bring to the board during the negotiating talks.

It comes amid reports of Golf overview that the relationship between Woods and McIlroy has “soured over the past six months” but “remains cordial.”

Woods (right) has previously stated that the PGA Tour does not need LIV Golf’s money

The Northern Irish golfer (left) said talks to rejoin the PGA Tour board had been ‘messy’

Jordan Spieth (left) and Patrick Cantlay (right) also sit on the PGA Tour policy council

Mail Sport understands McIlroy and Cantlay were also previously at odds over the deal between the PGA Tour and LIV, while the Northern Irishman has also had ‘tense phone calls’ with Spieth over the future of the game.

On Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Championship, McIlroy opened up about the “messy” conversations that had taken place between himself and PGA Tour board members.

“It just got quite complicated and quite messy,” he said.

‘The way it happened left wounds and scar tissue from things that happened before. And I think there was a segment of people on the board who for some reason didn’t like me coming back.”

Despite this, he added that there were no ill feelings between him or any other board member after the decision.

‘I raised my hand to help. I wouldn’t say it was rejected. I’d say it was a complicated process to get me back there, so that’s fine. No hard feelings and we’ll all move on.”

McIlroy had also revealed that his annoyance at leading the PGA Tour’s response to LIV in recent years had led to his decision to resign from the policy board in November, stating: “(It’s) not true I signed for when I went out. plate.’