Rory McIlroy is following his own path these days, making it clear he’s perfectly comfortable skipping major events when they don’t fit his vision. He missed three signature events and a FedExCup playoff tournament this year, choosing to play his own way.
The inspiration? A conversation with tennis legend Roger Federer.
“At this point, I want to play golf when I want to play golf,” McIlroy, 36, said Tuesday ahead of the BMW PGA Championship. “I want to play in the locations that I love to go to, and I want to play the majors and the Ryder Cup. That’s it.”
Now in his 19th year as a pro, McIlroy is branching out with upcoming trips to India and Australia for their national opens. What makes these additions notable is what he’s choosing to skip – lucrative PGA Tour events including The Sentry, RBC Heritage, Memorial Tournament and FedEx St. Jude Championship.
“I’m not going to be going by minimums or anything else,” he added. “I’ll obviously do my bit to make sure I keep my membership and all that on certain tours, but I’m going to play where I want to play.”
McIlroy teed it up in 16 PGA Tour events this season – just one more than the minimum required to maintain his card.
The four-time major champion explained that Federer shared some wisdom with him a few years ago. As the tennis star approached the end of his career, he found renewed energy by competing in new places. That resonated with McIlroy, who’s discovered that returning to the same tournaments year after year can become “a little bit monotonous and a little bit tedious.”
“I think as time goes on and I get to this stage of my career,” McIlroy said, “I get excited about doing that sort of thing.”
The BMW PGA, considered the flagship event on the DP World Tour, marks the second of consecutive weeks for McIlroy as he prepares for the Ryder Cup later this month. His schedule remains packed through year’s end with planned starts at the Dunhill Links, India Championship, Abu Dhabi Championship, DP World Tour Championship and Australian Open.
