Rory McIlroy has been the talk of the golf town this week. From his disappointing Masters exit to his immediate withdrawal from the elevated event that followed, the Irishman has garnered a lot of attention of late. Moreover, his recent $3 million penalty broke his fans’ hearts. Not just the fans, but PGA Tour players too have voiced their thoughts about the 23-time PGA Tour winner’s hefty fine. And among them was Rickie Fowler, who lashed out at the Tour itself.
Rickie Fowler claps back at the PGA Tour
The PGA Tour loyalist has been fighting the Tour’s battles alongside higher-ups like Jay Monahan for months now. Unfortunately, that won him no leniency when he broke the policy board’s rules this week. For withdrawing from his second elevated event of the year, he was slapped with a $3,000,000 penalty.
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This decision triggered many in the golf world, especially Rickie Fowler, for whom it came out of the blue. He demanded that there be a clearer line of communication between the Tour and its players. “I think that’s a big thing that’s been talked about for the last year: having more transparency and just good communication between players the Tour,” said Fowler, as per a recent Sports Illustrated report.
🚨Rickie Fowler on the TOUR’s lack of communication after Rory WD: “I think that's a big thing that's been talked about for the last year, is having more transparency and just good communication between players the tour.” (Via @SI_Golf)
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) April 14, 2023
The 5-time PGA Tour winner thinks that had the circumstances surrounding the penalty been clearer from the start, then things may have turned out a little differently for the Irishman. After all, $3 million was not a small sum of money, even for a millionaire like McIlroy!
Why did Rory McIlroy incur his multi-million-dollar setback?
Following his cut from the Masters, McIlroy announced his withdrawal from the RBC Heritage this week. While this may not have been an issue any other season, this season the event has been elevated.
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As per the board’s rules, the top Tour pros had to compete in the elevated events during the 2022–2023 season to receive their PIP bonus. They were exempted from only one of them of their choosing. The Irish golfer exercised this exemption at the start of the year and didn’t take part in the Tour of Champions.
But now he has also pulled out of the RBC Heritage this week, making it his second skip. For this violation, Monahan slapped a $3 million fine on the four-time major winner, meaning the amount would be deducted from his PIP winnings.
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Do you think the golf pro’s punishment was fair? Let us know in the comments below.