Rory McIlroy could finish the PGA Tour season one tournament short of the requirement needed to maintain his “home-tour” status. Still, the four-time FedExCup contender does not sound particularly worried about the situation.
McIlroy is expected to make only 14 PGA Tour starts this season, even after adding this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind to his schedule. Players with McIlroy’s status are required to compete in at least 15 Tour events, a threshold that allows him to play on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour without needing releases when schedules conflict.
There is still a straightforward way for McIlroy to reach 15. He could add one of the PGA Tour’s fall events to his schedule.
At the moment, however, he has no plans to do that.
McIlroy and the PGA Tour Are Working on a Solution
That leaves McIlroy and the Tour working on another solution. The PGA Tour player handbook allows the event requirement to be reduced because of “medical reasons or other extraordinary circumstances,” potentially providing a path for McIlroy to retain his status despite falling short of the minimum.
McIlroy said Wednesday that he has been discussing the matter directly with PGA Tour commissioner and CEO Brian Rolapp.
“Brian and I have been in constant dialogue, basically since he took the job last year,” McIlroy said at TPC Southwind. “I think we’ve built up a really good relationship and, yeah, we’ve had a couple of conversations last week about what I can do with the Tour going forward to, I guess, fulfill the obligation to, I guess, keep my membership.”
The stakes are significant on paper. If McIlroy lost his PGA Tour status, he would be restricted to seven starts through sponsor exemptions as a non-member, in addition to the exemptions he already holds into golf’s four major championships.
McIlroy, though, indicated that the discussions have been productive.
“We’re figuring it out, and it will all be fine,” he said. “It will be a little bit of work between us.”
A Global Schedule Complicates the 15-Event Requirement.
Part of the complication comes from McIlroy’s international schedule. He has long divided his playing time between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and events around the world, and his calendar becomes especially busy after the PGA Tour season concludes.
“Especially with the strategic alliance with the DP World Tour, I sort of pride myself on being a global player,” McIlroy said.
He is scheduled to play six times following the Tour Championship, with appearances planned in Ireland, England, India, Australia and twice in the United Arab Emirates before the end of the year. McIlroy said that demanding stretch influenced how he structured his schedule earlier in the season.
This week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship was itself an addition. McIlroy said he decided to compete in Memphis because otherwise he would have faced a four-week layoff before the final two tournaments of the PGA Tour season.
“Having four weeks off going into the last two tournaments of the year was probably going to be a little bit too much,” he said.
One Event Short With His Membership on the Line
The decision gives McIlroy another competitive start as he pursues a fourth FedExCup, while also moving him one tournament closer to the PGA Tour’s 15-event requirement.
It apparently will not get him all the way there.
Unless McIlroy changes his fall schedule, his membership question will instead depend on the discussions taking place between him and Tour leadership. Based on McIlroy’s comments in Memphis, both sides are already working through what will be required to keep McIlroy in good standing on both tours.
