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Is Rory McIlroy's decision to skip the playoffs a bold move or a risky gamble?

Rory McIlroy has already played 25 events this season. In his 17th season as a pro, McIlroy is still going strong and competing with the best golf has to offer. The 35-year-old has also had a successful year this season with 2 PGA Tour wins, 1 DP World Tour win, and a 5th place finish at the Olympics.

Hungry as ever, McIlroy is also set to feature in one more event this year. But things might change come 2025 as the Irishman has hinted about taking things slow next year. The issue was recently discussed on a podcast. Let’s see what they had to say.

Details about Rory McIlroy’s schedule

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Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme recently sat down on The Smylie Show podcast on YouTube. They discussed various topics particularly related to the PGA Tour changes including the demanding schedule. This led to the duo landing on Rory McIlroy’s golf schedule for 2025.

Charlie mentioned how Rory McIlroy has always been an individual who completely commits to his plans without any hesitation. He mentions how Rory went from, “a whole overhaul and a whole new schedule this year (2024) set up to play more majors, playing events he hadn’t played in the past, to completely going back in a different direction,” Speaking about Rory McIlroy’s plans for 2025, Charlie also said that he is, “cutting way down on events”.

One thing that caught Charlie Hulme by surprise is how Rory McIlroy won’t be participating in the “first round of the playoffs”. Hulme clarified the source of the information being Rory McIlroy’s interview for The Telegraph as he quoted, “I’ll probably not play the first playoff (FedEx Cup) event in Memphis.

An animated Smylie Kaufman added that the PGA Tour officials must consider changing their playoff structure this year itself as “we can’t afford to have Rory McIlroy saying this.” Kaufman explained how such a statement could be alarming for the PGA Tour as they wouldn’t want the sponsor to have the same attitude towards the events and cause any financial troubles. Smylie added how the sponsors might think “We need a restructured playoff system”.

Hulme further suggested how this can be viewed from many different perspectives. A part of the golf community might assume how McIlroy may have felt after being treated badly by the PGA Tour. He said, “Rory kind of being fed up with being trotted out by the PGA Tour.” Charlie further stated how this could be “used in a number of different ways, sort of a poster boy. And if things not going the way he wants them to go,” but still continued to elaborate on how alarming such a statement is.

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Is Rory McIlroy's decision to skip the playoffs a bold move or a risky gamble?

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He explained how the PGA Tour has set up the 70-player event and then one of the pros just tells them, “I’m good on that elevated purse. I don’t really need to (be a part of the event). I’ll just see you wherever the BMW is.” The duo continued to discuss more about the event and how it was scheduled. They also suggested some changes that would benefit the players.

Hearing something as such from Rory McIlroy is definitely something to be concerned about. But his new schedule will only come into effect in 2025. We are going to witness Rory McIlroy play again at least one more time this year. So where will his next appearance be? Let’s find out!

Two more tournaments in 2024

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In a press conference prior to the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship 2024, Rory McIlroy revealed how he aspires to be one of the best European players in history. McIlroy discussed how he has always been inspired by players like Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, and Bernhard Langer and how he wishes to achieve a similar kind of legendary status. He went on to elaborate on how winning the 2024 DP World Tour Championship is a part of that checklist. As per the entry list of the event, we can also confirm that Rory McIlroy will be at the Jumeirah Golf Estates Earth Course from Nov 14–17, 2024 to feature in the final event of the DP World Tour schedule.

There are no reports of him being a part of the Hero World Challenge alongside Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Åberg, and others. It will be interesting to see if he will eventually end up on the entry list for the final PGA Tour event of the season as well. What do you think about Rory McIlroy’s change of schedule? Let us know in the comments section.

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