Lucas Glover is very clued up on the goings on at the PGA Tour, and he has lifted the lid on how Rory McIlroy’s decision to skip the FedEx St. Jude Championship has been viewed behind the scenes.
Glover is very vocal with his opinions on how the PGA Tour can improve and he offered his take on McIlroy‘s current situation.
McIlroy pulled out of the FedEx St. Jude Championship field with rest and recuperation at the top of his agenda ahead of the final two FedEx Cup Playoff events.
The Northern Irishman has received plenty of criticism for that decision, perhaps somewhat unfairly.
It has been suggested that the PGA Tour are not happy with McIlroy, after he skipped the tournament in Memphis.
And now Glover has provided new information on the situation.
Lucas Glover says what the PGA Tour think about Rory McIlroy’s St. Jude Championship decision
During an appearance on SIRIUSXM PGA TOUR Radio, Glover has been speaking about McIlroy’s absence in Memphis this week.
And the man from Greenville, South Carolina, offered his take on McIlroy’s decision to skip the event at TPC Southwind.
Glover said: “He can do whatever he wants and nobody can really say anything. Is it unfortunate for the tour? Yes. Is it unfortunate for the tournament? Yes. Is it unfortunate for the sponsors? Yes, but Rory has got to do what’s best for Rory.
“Rory has played a lot of golf and he’s going to play a lot of golf after this, I understand that. Do I wish he was here? Sure. I know the tournament does, the sponsors do, the TV does but, with the current setup, they can’t say anything because it’s his choice, and it should be because we are technically independent contractors.
“I do think that now the precedent is set, there is perhaps reason to address this going forward. That being said, I don’t blame him. There is nothing anybody can do, he’s doing what’s best for him right now this year and that’s fine. He has played a ton and he’s going to play a ton later and doesn’t want to be here, so that’s that.“
PGA Tour could be ready to act after Rory McIlroy’s decision
The PGA Tour are said to be heading towards ‘dangerous territory’ in response to McIlroy skipping the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Golf Channel journalist Ryan Lavner has suggested that the PGA Tour need to be careful before closing any loopholes.
He said: “This is not a new problem. Tiger Woods has skipped playoff events before. Vijay [Singh] did it. Webb Simpson actually skipped a BMW Championship one year to prioritise rest and recovery heading into the Tour Championship.
“The reason I bring it up is because Peter Malnati, a player director on the PGA Tour policy board, mentioned that he was ‘very concerned’ about the prospect of a player of Rory McIlroy’s ilk who decides to skip one of the post season events and seemed to suggest that the PGA Tour was already looking to close that loophole.
“To me that is dangerous territory. The PGA Tour has already tried to have compulsory participation with the elevated events a couple of years ago. That backfired, players were still skipping them and they ended up relinquishing that mandate.“
PGA Tour players are independent contractors so the only way to guarantee that the best golfers will play all three Playoff events is to make sure that there is some kind of advantage for whoever is leading the FedEx Cup standings heading into the Tour Championship.
Aside from that, there is unfortunately no quick-fire solution to the problem of marquee players missing any of the Playoff events.
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