Rory McIlroy considers turning back on European Tour which could cost him future Ryder Cup captaincy role
Rory McIlroy is considering turning his back on the European Tour next year even though it could cost him the chance ever to be Ryder Cup captain.
The Irishman revealed that he is only scheduled to play two regular Tour events in 2019 as he concentrates on the PGA Tour and his ambition to win more majors. And under a regulation drawn up this year, that would bar him from becoming a Europe vice-captain or captain in the future.
The rule says: “Players cannot be a European Ryder Cup Captain or a Vice-Captain if they decline membership of the European Tour or fail to fulfil their minimum event obligation in any season, from 2018 onwards.”
McIlroy would need to appear in a minimum of four regular events, including his home tournament, which is the Irish Open. But because of the revamp to the major calendar – which sees the USPGA Championship moving forward from August to May - the 29-year-old is unsure how often he will return from his Florida house to his home tour.
There is even the possibility he will miss the Irish Open, an event that he has helped save by promoting it for the last four years. He is definitely teeing it up in European Masters in Switzerland because of a sponsor commitment and he may add the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club. “Everything is up in the air,” McIllroy said. However, what is certain is that he will be well rested when he starts 2019 proper.
After the DP World Tour Championship, which begins here at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Thursday, he will play only one tournament in the ensuing 13 weeks, meaning that for the first time he will skip the European Tour’s “Desert Swing” in January.
“Everything is going to be so condensed between March and August, and that is why I am taking a big off-season to get myself ready, and to have that break and impose an off-season on myself and then go at it hard from March all the way through to basically the end of the season,” McIlroy said.
“I’ve got two events on my schedule in Europe. I am starting my year off in the US [ in Hawaii in January] and that Tour will be the big focus of mine up until the end of August and then we will assess from there.
“I’ve a couple ‘pure’ European Tour events on my schedule up until the end of August. I guess my thing is that I want to play against the strongest fields week-in and week-out and for the most part of the season that is in America.
“If I want to continue to contend in the majors… and to continue my journey back towards the top of the game, then that’s what I want to do.
“If it were to be that I don’t fulfil my membership next year, it’s not a Ryder Cup year so it’s not the end of the world. I am always going to want to play the Ryder Cup, so if anything if that does happen so be it and I will try and make the Ryder Cup team with a year ago.”
If McIlroy decides to hand in his card for 2019 it will mean he will playing catch-up in qualifying for the 2020 match because any points he earns as a non-member will not count. However, he would believe this to be a risk worth taking and back himself earning the requisite points in a more limited timeframe.
This season has been a mixed bag, with only one victory and the world No 7 is clearly determined to do whatever it takes to reclaim his position as the best player in the world.
