Rory McIlroy will play his 26th event of 2024 at this week's HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi, opening with a 67 in the penultimate event of the DP World Tour schedule game.
Don't expect McIlroy to play anywhere near that number in 2025.
McIlroy hinted at a reduced schedule at the PGA Tour season-ending Tour Championship, detailing his plans for next year after the opening round, telling media telegraph He may miss next year's inaugural FedExCup playoffs.
The idea is to reduce it to 18 or 19 events.
“I played some events this year that I normally don’t play and I probably won’t play next year,” McIlroy said. “Like, I’ve played the Cognizant (Classic) at Palm Beach Gardens (formerly the Honda Classic), San Antonio (Texas Open) and Hilton Head (RBC Heritage).
“And I probably won't play in the first playoff game in Memphis (FedEx St. Jude). I mean, I basically finished last this year (tied for 68th out of 70 players), and Just down one spot in the playoff standings.”
McIlroy has won the DP World Tour's Dubai Desert Classic, the Zurich Classic (with Sean Lowry) and the Wells Fargo Championship, and he's also competing in the 2024 Olympics.
He finished runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau at the U.S. Open and had a few close calls in Europe, finishing second at the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship.
Skipping the Cognizant event is no surprise, but the RBC Heritage event is one of eight signature events with a smaller field and $20 million in prize money. If McIlroy also skips the season-opening Sentinel Tournament — which he did this year — it will be two of the eight signature events he will miss.
In 2023, those who qualify for signature events must compete and can skip one. McIlroy did not play in Hawaii that year and missed the RBC Championship the week after the Masters, resulting in a penalty that was deducted from his Player Impact Program bonus.
Players are no longer required to participate in signature events, although they miss out on near-guaranteed prize money and increased FedExCup points.
“Well, at this point in my career…” McIlroy said. “Hey, I'm 35 years old and have been here 17, 18 years, so I'm just going to go where I like and where I play well. It seems like I've done the hard work and I've done it every year 25 to 30 such events and I’m not getting any younger.”
