‘Alarms’ predicted to be going off at PGA Tour HQ after what Rory McIlroy has planned for 2025

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While Rory McIlroy’s rhetoric towards LIV Golf has softened considerably over the last year, there is surely no question that no-one is doing more to fly the flag for both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour right now.

Rory McIlroy finished in a tie for ninth in the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour, while only Thriston Lawrence can deny him the Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour. The 35-year-old has won three times worldwide in 2024, while he came agonisingly close to winning a fifth major at the US Open.

McIlroy looked to make changes to his swing in the weeks ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after finding a rare break in his schedule. And it seems that the Northern Irishman is planning to make further changes to how much he plays in 2025.

McIlroy has suggested that he could miss four PGA Tour events next year, including the opening tournament of the play-offs, the St. Jude Championship. He noted that he nearly finished last at the event this season, and yet, barely fell in the overall standings.

Rory McIlroy comments will alarm the PGA Tour

And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman suggested that McIlroy is making a smart decision – though some working behind the scenes on the PGA Tour will not see it the same way.

“Having Rory McIlroy say that, there has to be alarms going off at PGA Tour headquarters saying, ‘we have to change our play-off structure, not next year, now,” he said.

“We can’t afford to have Rory McIlroy saying this because we can’t have our number one sponsor seeing Rory McIlroy say that and saying, you know what, I can skip this week, I’ll see you at the BMW’. That, to me, was such an alarming statement, and one that we’ve been calling for. We need a rescheduled play-off system.”

The players who moved in and out of the top 50 at the St. Jude Championship

While there have been times in the past when players have not played every single play-off event, it was interesting this year that the entire top 70 in the standings did travel to Memphis. And McIlroy did indeed have an incredibly poor week, only finishing ahead of Max Homa.

The result knocked him from third to fifth in the play-offs. So you could understand why he may feel that it is one event that he can do without playing. At that stage, it is much more important that those around 50th place have a better week.

It did feel dramatic, particularly given what happened in hindsight. Tom Kim falling out of the top 50 saw Keegan Bradley squeeze into the field for the BMW Championship before he won at Castle Pines and secured a spot on the Presidents Cup team.

In actuality however, Kim was one of just three players who dropped out of the crucial top 50 that week at the St. Jude Championship.

So there is definitely scope for more drama to be added if they want to encourage the best players to keep coming to the first play-off event.