Rory McIlroy praises 'hero' Tiger Woods after PGA Tour summit to discuss LIV Golf
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Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have 19 major wins between them
Rory McIlroy has called Tiger Woods a "hero" after top PGA Tour players met to discuss the threat of LIV Golf.
Woods flew from Florida to Wilmington, Delaware - which is hosting the BMW Championship this week - for the meeting about the Saudi-funded tour.
That is despite the fact that the American, a 15-time major winner, has not qualified for the event, the second in the FedEx Cup Play-offs.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy said Woods' presence was "impactful".
He added: "I think it shows how much he cares about the Tour.
"I think it shows how much he cares about the players that are coming through and are going to be the next generation."
Woods did not qualify for the FedEx Cup play-offs, having played just three times in 2022 following a car accident in February 2021.
But McIlroy believes the 46-year-old still has a significant role to play in shaping golf's future in the midst of great uncertainty.
He said: "Like it or not, they can't really sell Tiger Woods any more. The Tour had an easy job for 20 years. They don't have Tiger - yes, they've got a bunch of us and we're all great players, but we're not Tiger Woods.
"We're moving into a different era, and we just have to think about things a little differently.
"He is the hero that we've all looked up to. His voice carries further than anyone else's in the game of golf. His role is navigating us to a place where we all think we should be.
"I think it's pretty apparent that whenever we all get in the room there's an alpha in there, and it's not me."
A number of high-profile players have left the established tours for the new eight-event series, which boasts a £200m prize fund.
Major winners Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson are among those to have joined.
The PGA responded with indefinite bans and raised the purses of several events in hopes of competing with the riches of the Saudi-backed circuit.
Four-time major winner McIlroy and two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas confirmed Tuesday's gathering.
McIlroy said: "I think the one thing that came out of it, which I think was the purpose, is all the top players on this Tour are in agreement and alignment of where we should go going forward, and that was awesome.
"We need to get the top guys together more often than we do."
McIlroy missed the cut in the first play-off event in Memphis last week and has turned his attention to the Wilmington Country Club, where the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings on Sunday will advance to the Tour Championship.
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