Rory McIlroy says he’ll continue skipping the PGA Tour’s signature events in 2026 so long as he has the ‘luxury’ to pick his own schedule.
The 36-year-old has been criticised for sitting out several of the circuit’s high-stakes tournaments with limited fields.
Masters champion McIlroy decided not to play in the Memorial at Muirfield Village hosted by Jack Nicklaus, the season-opening Sentry in Hawaii, the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links and the first leg of the PGA Tour’s play-offs in Memphis.
Those defending McIlroy have pointed out the five-times major winner usually skips the Sentry as he tends to begin his campaign in the Middle East before heading to America to prep for the major season.
The RBC Heritage also falls a week after The Masters so McIlroy could be forgiven for having a week off after fulfilling a lifetime ambition of sealing the career grand slam.
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In truth, perhaps the only surprise was McIlroy deciding not to play in Ohio and not even giving the Golden Bear a heads-up.
McIlroy will also play in India and Australia after the Ryder Cup – and he remains committed to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and the Irish Open at the K Club.
“I’ll always look at the schedule at the start of the year and see what best fits me and my life, and everything else that I do with family or other opportunities that I’m pursuing outside of golf,” he told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the PGA Tour’s season finale at East Lake.
“This year that meant skipping a few signature events. [Next year] I might skip less, I might skip the same amount.
“The luxury of being a PGA Tour player is we’re free to pick and choose our own schedule for the most part.
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“I took advantage of that this year and I’ll continue to take advantage of that for as long as I can.”
New changes are ‘positive’
The PGA Tour also unveiled their full 2026 schedule on Tuesday.
There are now nine signature events which feature $180m in prize money.
The North American circuit are also returning to Donald Trump’s Doral course in Florida for the first time since 2016.
McIlroy said he believe the changes are good.
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“I think it’s all positive,” said McIlroy of the schedule tweaks.
“Golf builds through the January, February, March months, gets a huge popularity spike through [the Masters at] Augusta and to try and keep that momentum going through the next few weeks, through the [US] PGA, through the US Open, I think is a good thing.
“It’s quite a workload for the players to play that much golf in that stretch but it’s not as if we’re having to travel halfway around the world to do it.”
“I like him a lot”
Elsewhere, McIlroy said he met the PGA Tour’s new chief executive – Brian Rolapp – for the first time in person last week.
The pair talked about the disruption to the men’s game since LIV Golf’s arrival, he said, and plans for the future.
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“I like him,” McIlroy said. “I like him a lot. I like that he doesn’t come from golf. I like that he doesn’t have any preconceived ideas of what golf should look like or what the Tour should look like.
“I think he’s going to bring a fresh perspective to everything, and I think he wants to move pretty quick, so I’m excited.”
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