Rory McIlroy has revealed that he plans to scale down his 2025 calendar and could skip a tournament he was fined £2.3million for missing in 2023. The world No. 3 insists he will only play at events he enjoys as he closes in on two decades on the PGA Tour.
McIlroy received a heavy punishment for a late withdrawal from the RBC Heritage a year ago. The tournament – one of the PGA’s ‘signature events’ which is scheduled for the week after the Masters – is no longer mandatory so the Northern Irishman could miss it again if he wishes to do so.
He insists that at the age of 35, he needs to limit the tournaments he plays and avoid the “hard slog” of entering up to 30 events.
“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 the Daily Telegraph.
“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.
“Well, at this point in my career… 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.”
It is over a year since McIlroy received a heavy fine for missing the RBC Heritage tournament. But he justified his decision at the time.
“We certainly have our minimums, we obviously signed up for this designated-event series this year,” McIlroy said.
“I obviously knew the consequences that could come with missing one of those. It was an easy decision, but I felt like if that fine or whatever is to happen was worth that for me in order to get some things in place.”
McIlroy revealed this week that he has been working on his golf swing in a studio, focusing on his body movements rather than the trajectory of the ball. He is desperate to end a decade-long wait for a major championship.
