Golf fans should be making the most of their opportunities to watch Rory McIlroy play, as he is, to use a golf term, apparently on the back nine of his career.
That’s not terribly surprising — he’ll turn 37 next May — but the five-time major champion made it abundantly clear he’s not going to play forever and is already starting to cut back his playing opportunities (and obligations) where he can.
“I don’t want to be grounding out here at 50 years of age,” McIlroy told reporters ahead of the BMW PGA Championship in England. “I’ll turn up and play the majors and have a nice time but you know, whenever I’m done, I’m done, whenever that is. That’s certainly not right now, but I’m certainly closer to that point now than I was in 2007 when I turned pro.”
Rory McIlroy Says He Wants to Play Golf On His Terms Moving Forward
This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has followed McIlroy’s career closely. While the Northern Irishman was vocal about the importance of getting top players in the same fields more often, he has practiced what he once preached far less the last season or two. He seemingly got tired of being a de facto PGA Tour spokesperson in the simmering war with LIV and has opted to skip some high-profile events, most recently a playoff event this season.
Expect that trend to continue.
“Again, at this point I want to play golf when I want to play golf,” McIlroy added. “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. I’m not going to be going by minimums or anything else. Like 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.”
As McIlroy noted, he will almost certainly play less, and when he does play, it will be in settings golf fans haven’t been accustomed to seeing. That’s playing out this year with McIlroy playing (and winning) the Irish Open last week ahead of a stop in England this week before the Ryder Cup. He’ll also play in India and Australia before the year comes to an end.
“I want to go and play in different places in the world and experience things that I haven’t experienced before,” he said. ” … You know, going back to the — I don’t want to name a tournament, but you’re going back to the same place, the same thing 15, 20 years in a row, it can get a little bit monotonous and a little bit tedious.”
Rory Going to Tiger Woods’ Model?
There’s certainly already a roadmap in place for a player of McIlroy’s status and stature to dial it back. Look no further than Tiger Woods. Injuries left Woods no choice but to cut back on his starts, but even before this cursed run of injury luck, the 15-time major champion only teed it up where it made sense.
Woods made headlines just this week after video of him hitting balls on the range at the Nexus Championship went golf viral. It’s probably safe to assume McIlroy won’t be grinding the same way at 50, regardless of health, but Woods’ five starts in 2024 might be something we can expect from McIlroy sooner than fans might want to admit.
Rory McIlroy Makes Emphatic Statement About His Future Plans