Rory McIlroy says Jimmy Dunne resignation is 'concerning' for PGA Tour and PIF talks

Dunne, one of the brokers of the PGA Tour’s framework agreement with the PIF, made his shock decision after claiming that there had been “no meaningful progress” in the bid to unify golf following its much-publicised split after the launch of LIV Golf two years ago.

Speaking on Tuesday, policy board player member Tiger Woods disputed Dunne’s claim, insisting the talks are moving in the right direction but, at the same time, warned that there was still a long way to go.

Also facing the media in the build up to the 106th PGA Championship, which gets underway at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville on Thursday, McIlroy delivered his verdict on Dunne’s departure and he didn’t hold back when offering his thoughts on what the implications might be.

“Yeah, honestly I think it's a huge loss for the PGA Tour, if they are trying to get this deal done with the PIF and trying to unify the game,” said the world No 2 of the framework agreement that was struck last June.

“Jimmy was basically ‘the’ relationship, the sort of conduit between the PGA Tour and PIF. It's been really unfortunate that he has not been involved for the last few months, and I think part of the reason that everything is stalling at the minute is because of that.

“So it is, it's really, really disappointing, and you know, I think the tour is in a worse place because of it. We'll see. We'll see where it goes from here and we'll see what happens.

“But 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.”

McIlroy, who won the last of his four majors in the same event at the same venue a decade ago, was speaking a day after his management team confirmed that he’d filed for divorce from his wife, Erica.

Before his press conference started, it was pointed out that McIlroy would be making no further comment on that matter. He was asked how he felt on a personal level heading into the season’s second major and replied: “I'm ready to play this week.”

The newly-turned 35-year-old is coming into this event on the back of two wins, having teamed up with Shane Lowry to land the Zurich Classic of New Orleans before covering eight holes in eight under par in the final round en route to a five-shot success in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday.

“I think it's all about confidence and momentum, and I have a lot of confidence and quite a bit of momentum coming into this week,” said McIlroy, the Genesis Scottish Open champion, of his current form, “and it's just about trying to keep that going.”

This week’s venue will allow him to play with “freedom” due to it being what he described as a “big golf course” in terms of its length and width. “The corridors are wide, not too dissimilar to last week at Quail Hollow, so you can open your shoulders up off the tee and try to take your chances from there,” he said.