Rory McIlroy has pledged to reduce his golfing commitments on the PGA Tour in 2025, following a hectic schedule on American turf this season.
The European star’s quest for a fifth major championship will extend into its 11th year next season, after yet another unsuccessful attempt to clinch victory on the grand stage in 2024. He came tantalisingly close to winning, arguably closer than he has been in the decade since his last triumph at the 2014 PGA Championship, but fell short at the US Open.
With just four holes remaining at Pinehurst No. 2, the Northern Irishman was two shots ahead of the pack, but three bogeys in the final stretch saw him concede the title to LIV Golf adversary, Bryson DeChambeau. It’s been a packed year for McIlroy, who is participating in his 26th tournament of the season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week on the DP World Tour.
However, it seems that the 35 year old is planning to cut back on his golfing activities in an effort to find the key to success 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 revealed to 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 continued: “Well, at this point in my career… Hey, I’m 35 and have been out here for 17, or 18 years.”
“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.”z
Rory McIlroy will play less golf in 2025 after making a drastic career change ( Image: Getty Images)
McIlroy shared 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.
