Golf is often seen as a very staid, traditional sport where little changes over time. But the past few years have been a tumultuous period in the professional game, at least, with the rise and now seeming fall of the LIV Golf Tour.
LIV’s impact hasn’t just been limited to their events, players and debate over how their tournaments should be weighed for major qualification or evaluated for Ryder Cup team selection. The PGA Tour, in response to LIV’s formation, was essentially forced to make changes to keep top players in place.
Signature events with higher purses. Changing some tournaments to have no cuts. More support for the big names. All changed how the tour worked and who played in what events. The signature events enjoyed better competition as star players competed for $20 million in prize money, but some smaller tournaments suffered as golfers chose rest rather than travel and play for smaller rewards.
One of the key personalities in these changes and negotiations on the PGA Tour has been Rory McIlroy. McIlroy committed to the PGA Tour when others were bolting, assumed a leadership role with commissioner Jay Monahan on the PGA’s response and has become increasingly vocal as he becomes a “veteran” at 37-years-old.
And with the tour facing an even more aggressive set of changes under new CEO Brian Rolapp, McIlroy spoke about what that might mean for his schedule. Which seems to be decreasing each season.
After his third round at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, McIlroy admitted that his interest in playing most tournaments has decreased as he progresses through his career.
“I think once you lose your enthusiasm to go to the course, it is time to take a break,” McIlroy said.
“I’ve turned up to events that I haven’t necessarily wanted to be there because I feel like I should be there.”
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McIlroy took a break after The Open Championship before returning to play three straight weeks in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He told reporters that’s his limit these days, as he looks to spend more time with his family and take more breaks from competition.
“This is my third week in a row. I rarely do that anymore, and I feel like that is my limit,” he said.
“If I had to tee up again next week, that to me is tough.”
He also said he’ll never play four straight weeks in a row moving forward, and that his “fuse” has gotten shorter over time.
“But again, I am 37. This is my 18th or 19th year as a professional, so my fuse is a little shorter than it used to be,” he added.
As for the reduced schedule he wants to play, McIlroy said it’s likely going to get even smaller, “I play my schedule and I’ll continue to play my schedule, which is getting less and less as the years go on.”
Regarding the changes made to the PGA Tour moving forward, two different “tracks” for events, as well as promotion and relegation for the first time ever, he doesn’t seem too excited for what that might mean. And blames LIV, in some small part, for what’s happened.
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“It’s funny. Like I think, as they’ve done all this work, you start to realize that the way the tour was before LIV came along was actually pretty good,” he said. “It was a pretty good structure, and everything sort of worked pretty well. LIV created this false economy where we had to up prize funds and had to cut fields and try to support the top players and all that stuff, which I think needed to happen because that was the only way to retain talent at the time.
“But now that LIV looks like it’s less of a threat, I think the old ways of the PGA Tour weren’t actually that bad.”
Part of that increasing willingness to be honest about his views on golf, his place in the tour, and the future, is that McIlroy in some ways felt abandoned by Monahan, that all his efforts to keep the PGA Tour together weren’t appreciated. Now, with rumors suggesting that some LIV players, including two-time major champion Jon Rahm, might be looking to return, it seems he’s feeling further and further removed from the weekly grind of a PGA Tour schedule.
Major championships are the priority, with the FedEx Cup Playoffs a distant fifth. Oh, and TGL somewhere in there, too.
McIlroy’s earned the right to do what he wants. At the same time, though, he’s one of the sport’s biggest draws. With the tour hoping to bring in even more high-dollar sponsors, it might be a tougher sell when McIlroy is this open about playing fewer tournaments. Even with big purses. Seems like he feels that’s their problem to figure out.
