Rory McIlroy has vowed to play less golf on the PGA Tour in 2025 after the European star played a packed schedule on American soil this campaign.
McIlroy’s hunt for a fifth major championship will enter an 11th-year next campaign, having once again failed to get over the line on the big stage in 2024. He came arguably as close as he ever has in the 10 years since his last at the 2014 PGA Championship, falling agonizingly short at the U.S. Open.
With four holes to play at Pinehurst No. 2, the Northern Irishman found himself two shots clear of the field, but three bogeys down the final stretch saw him surrender the title to LIV Golf rival, Bryson DeChambeau.
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It has been a busy year for McIlroy, who is playing in his 26th tournament of the season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week on the DP World Tour. Moving forward though, it appears the 35-year-old is going to scale back his golf in a bid to find the winning formula on the major stage.
“There’s a few tournaments that I played this year that I don’t usually play and that I might not play next year,” McIlroy told The Telegraph. “Like, I played the Cognizant (Classic) in Palm Beach Gardens (formerly the Honda Classic), San Antonio (Texas Open), and Hilton Head (RBC Heritage).
“And I’ll probably not play the first playoff event in Memphis (the FedEx St. Jude). I mean, I finished basically dead last there this year (tied for 68th out of 70) and only moved down one spot in the playoff standings.” He went on: “Well, at this point in my career… Hey, I’m 35 and have been out here for 17, or 18 years.
Rory McIlroy is chasing a sixth Race To Dubai title (
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
“So I’m just going to go to the places that I enjoy and where I play well. Look I’ve done the hard slog, I’ve done that sort of 25 to 30 events a year. And I’m not getting any younger.” McIlroy revealed this week that he has been looking to make some key changes to his golf swing, spending three weeks in an indoor golf simulator to hone in on his new technique.
“I probably haven’t liked the shape of my golf swing for a while, especially the backswing,” he said in the Middle East. “The only way I was going to make a change or at least move in the right direction with my swing was to lock myself in a studio and not see the ball flight for a bit and just focus entirely on the movement.
“So did that for three weeks after the Dunhill [Links Championship].” And there were signs of success in his opening round in Abu Dhabi, as McIlroy carded a solid five-under-par 67 with six bogeys and one bogey in round one. The Northern Irishman is looking to win his sixth Race to Dubai title and third on the bounce, with the DP World Tour season ending at the DP World Tour Championship next week.
