Rory McIlroy intends to take an axe to his 2025 schedule and the bad news for the PGA Tour is that the world No 3 may skip not only one of the $20 million ‘Signature Events’ but also the opening tournament in the FedEx Cup, the play-off series that is the cornerstone of the circuit’s calendar.
The Northern Irishman made the revelation here at Yas Links on Thursday after the first round of the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship. Next week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, where McIlroy will almost certainly pick up his sixth order of merit title, will be his 27th competitive appearance of the year and he plans to reduce this to as few as 18 or 19 – a huge cutback of up to a third.
“There’s a few tournaments that I played this year that I don’t usually play and that I might not play next year,” McIlroy told Telegraph Sport. “Like, I played the Cognizant [Classic] in Palm Beach Gardens, [the Texas Open in] San Antonio and the [RBC Heritage in] Hilton Head. And I’ll probably not play the first play-off event in Memphis. I mean, I finished basically dead last there this year [tied for 68 in a 70-man field], and only moved down one spot in the play-off standings.”
None of this is yet confirmed, but McIlroy’s comments will doubtless cause consternation at Sawgrass HQ. In the effort to stop top players from joining LIV Golf, the PGA Tour brought in their celebrated ‘Signature Events’ in 2023, with limited fields playing for more than twice as much as usual.
PGA needs big guns in fight against LIV
With US TV viewing figures on an alarming slide following the loss of the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson to the Saudi-backed rebel league, Jay Monahan, the beleaguered PGA Tour commissioner, needs his big guns in this elite fields and with Tiger Woods sidelined with injury, there is no bigger gun than McIlroy.
Initially, it was mandatory for the PGA Tour members to appear in these exclusive tournaments and McIlroy was actually – and incredibly unfairly – fined the ridiculous sum of more than £2 million for a late withdrawal from Hilton Head. It was, and still is, stupidly staged the week immediately following the Masters and a missed cut at the major he craves above all others saw the crestfallen McIlroy return home for his “mental and emotional wellbeing”. It was a cruel and unnecessary sanction.
FedEx would also surely be annoyed at the Tour’s inability to deliver the superstars. The courier giant has pumped hundreds of millions into the circuit in a near 20-year relationship and would be forgiven for wondering about its return on investment in this diluted age.
Perhaps this might be another reason for the Tour to reach a deal quickly with the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi £720 billion war chest that bankrolls LIV.
McIlroy would welcome peace, but he spelt out why he is scaling back. After acting as the unofficial voice of the Tour’s ultimately futile and costly battle with LIV it is time he put himself first.
“Well, at this point in my career…” Mcilroy said. “Hey, I’m 35 and have been out here for 17, 18 years, so I’m just going to go to the places that I enjoy and where I play well. Look I’ve done the hard slog, I’ve done that sort of 25 to 30 events a year. And I’m not getting any younger.”
Luke Donald, the Europe captain, would surely be pleased if his strike weapon does ditch Memphis, otherwise he could turn up at New York for the Ryder Cup next September having played in eight events in 13 weeks before the Bethpage encounter and risking burnout.
McIlroy is clearly feeling the effects of his packed year and plans to enjoy more time in his studio at home in Florida. He is not the first and will not be the last golfer to be driven to locking himself in a room to escape the range and course.
But he believes the three weeks he spent hitting balls into a blank screen with a live feed showing his swings will make him more efficient and guard against “my swing breaking down under pressure as it has done a few times this year”.
