Rory McIlroy intends to ax his 2025 calendar and the bad news for the PGA Tour is that the world No. 3 risks skipping not only one of the $20 million “signature events” but also the opening tournament of the FedEx Cup, the play-off series that is the cornerstone of the tour 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 win his sixth Order of Merit title, it will be his 27th competitive appearance of the year and he plans to reduce that number to just 18 or 19 – a huge reduction of up to a third.
“There are a few tournaments that I played this year that I don’t usually play that I might not play next year,” McIlroy said. Telegraph sport. “For example, I played at the Cognizant (Classic) in Palm Beach Gardens, (the Texas Open in) San Antonio and the (RBC Heritage in) Hilton Head. And I probably won’t play the first play-off game in Memphis. I mean, I finished dead last there this year (tied for 68th out of a field of 70 players), and only fell one place in the play-off standings.
None of this is confirmed yet, but McIlroy’s comments will no doubt cause consternation at Sawgrass headquarters. In an effort to keep top players from joining LIV Golf, the PGA Tour held its famous “signature events” in 2023, with limited numbers playing more than twice as much as usual.
PGA needs big guns to fight LIV
With US television viewing figures falling alarmingly 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 commissioner of the PGA Tour, needs his big guns in this matter. elite fields and with Tiger Woods sidelined due to injury, there is no bigger gun than McIlroy.
Initially, it was mandatory for PGA Tour members to participate in these exclusive tournaments and McIlroy was actually – and incredibly unfairly – fined a ridiculous £2 million-plus for a late withdrawal from Hilton Head . It was, and still is, stupidly staged the week immediately after the Masters and a missed cut at the major he dreams of above all else saw a dejected McIlroy return home for his “mental and emotional well-being” . It was a cruel and unnecessary punishment.
FedEx would also surely be annoyed by the Tour’s inability to deliver the superstars. The mail giant has pumped hundreds of millions into the loop over a nearly 20-year relationship and would be forgiven for wondering about its return on investment in this diluted era.
Maybe this could be another reason why the Tour to reach an agreement quickly with the Public Investment Fund, the £720 billion Saudi war chest that funds LIV.
McIlroy would welcome peace, but he explained why he was scaling back his commitments. After being the unofficial voice of the Tour, ultimately futile and costly battle with LIV It’s time he prioritized himself.
“Well, at this point in my career…” Mcilroy said. “Hey, I’m 35 years old and I’ve been here 17, 18 years, so I’m just going to go to the places that I like and play well. Look, I did the hard part, I did like 25 to 30 events a year. And I’m not getting any younger.
Luke Donald, the European captain, would surely be delighted if his strike weapon abandoned Memphis, otherwise he could turn up in New York for the Ryder Cup next September having played eight events in 13 weeks before the Bethpage meeting and risk the professional burnout.
McIlroy is clearly feeling the effects of his busy year and plans to spend more time in his studio at home in Florida. He thinks the three weeks he spent hitting balls to a blank screen with a live feed showing his swings will make him more efficient and protect him from “my swing.” collapse under pressure as has been the case several times this year.”
Analysis: solitary confinement to improve golf technique
Rory McIlroy is not the first, and certainly won’t be the last, golfer whose game has caused them to lock themselves in a room to escape the range and the course.
But he is undoubtedly the best and the Northern Irishman believes the three weeks he spent in his studio with a live feed showing his swings on TV will help him avoid making the same mistakes which, according to him, have cost him silverware this year, including, perhaps, that elusive fifth major title.
McIlroy revealed he had subjected himself to the golfing equivalent of solitary confinement to avoid the temptation of the usual routine of setting up on the practice area and hitting balls away.
After his last event, the Dunhill Links, he realized his five-week gap until his two weeks in the UAE was the perfect time to focus on the movement and not the outcome.
“During those three weeks, I didn’t go out and hit balls at all and watch my ball flight,” he said. “I just worked on technique and getting my swing back to where I wanted it. What I’d really like to do is build a closing season over 10-12 weeks, but that’s not the case at the moment with everything being the way it is.
“My swing let me down at critical moments”
McIlroy said he felt “unimaginative” during his opening round 67 at the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship, which left him five under and five behind the leader, his Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood. “But I was hitting very straight shots,” he added.
And that’s exactly what he wanted as he performed his pre-shot routine of bringing the club back to the outside of the swing with a quarter of its normal swing.
“I quickly got comfortable with that little rehearsal before going back to the club, so it felt right,” he said. Telegraph sport after a round that included six birdies and just one bogey. “Throughout the year, as you go from event to event, you train more on the performance of what you’re trying to do rather than purely on technique.
“So you do draws, fades, think about left pins, right pins, hit shots, hit your numbers and all that. It’s more performance than technical stuff. And if you can do your best to separate them, at least for me, that’s what works well.
“I’m very lucky that it’s a nice week to come back after my break because it’s not too windy and it’s quite wide at the start. So I feel like I can focus a little more on what I’m trying to do with the movement.
McIlroy listed a few shots this year in which his “move failed under pressure.” “Yeah, there was a missed putt at the US Open (where he lost by one to Bryson DeChambeau),” he said. “And even though I had some ups and downs, I missed the green on the 17th there (at Pinehurst) when I really shouldn’t have. There was Wentworth (at the BMW Championship when he lost in a play-off to Billy Horschel) and the week before at the Irish Open (where he lost by one to Rasmus Hojgaard).
“I played well both times, but my swing let me down at critical times. So the work I’ve been doing in this studio will hopefully make me more efficient and I’ll make sure I do more of it in December and January before we play on tour again.
