Why Rory McIlroy once was ‘honestly sick’ of playing DP World Tour events

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Rory McIlroy has been a strong supporter of the DP World Tour throughout the years.

McIlroy first made his name on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) back in 2009 when he won the Dubai Desert Classic.

The 36-year-old has been the most successful player in the game over the past decade or so, both in Europe and on the PGA Tour.

Interestingly, McIlroy pulled out of the FedEx St. Jude Championship field earlier this week, due to the fact that he has so much competitive golf on the horizon.

It has been claimed that the PGA Tour are considering changing the rules after McIlroy’s decision to skip the event in Memphis.

The five-time major champion hasn’t really seen eye-to-eye with the PGA Tour hierarchy since he felt like he was hung out to dry after it emerged that then commissioner Jay Monahan had agreed a framework merger with the PIF and LIV Golf back in 2023.

McIlroy felt like he put himself on a pedestal and nailed his colours to the mast by standing up for the PGA Tour when numerous players left to join LIV, only to be left in the dark by Monahan when a deal was struck with the Saudis.

That deal has yet to manifest into anything substantial, but the point remains, McIlroy felt like he was used and taken for a fool.

However, he has had his issues with the DP World Tour in the past as well.

Why Rory McIlroy was once ‘sick’ of playing DP World Tour events

McIlroy has a stretch of golf coming up on the DP World Tour, after the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the PGA Tour have reached a conclusion.

In fact, the Northern Irishman is set to support numerous tours around the world between September and December, with his entry confirmed at tournaments in Ireland, England, India, the UAE and Australia.

However, there was a time when The Masters champion had a real gripe about returning to Europe to play on the DP World Tour.

After the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2019, McIlroy finished in a tie for 34th after ending the week on 13-under par.

And he shared his frustrations post-round.

He said: “I’m sort of honestly sick of coming back over to the European Tour and shooting 15 under par and finishing 30th.

“I don’t think the courses are set up hard enough. There are no penalties for bad shots. It’s tough when you come back and it’s like that. I don’t feel like good golf is regarded as well as it could be. It happened in the Scottish Open at Renaissance. I shot 13 under and finished 30th [actually T-34] again. It’s not a good test. I think if the European Tour wants to put forth a really good product, the golf courses and setups need to be tougher.”

That was a really interesting point from McIlroy, and in fairness to the DP World Tour, the venues they play their events on have unquestionably got harder recently.

22-under par has won twice on the DP World Tour this season, while the rest of the tournaments have had winning scores between four-under and 19-under par.

The average winning score is around 13-under par, and that seems about right. Courses like the Trump International in Aberdeen, Scotland, and the DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi, India, have been proven to be really successful additions to the schedule.

Rory McIlroy’s record on the DP World Tour

McIlroy has been one of the most prolific winners in the game since he burst onto the scene 18 years ago.

Here are his results on the DP World Tour throughout his career.

19 wins from 258 events played is a really impressive return from the Northern Irishman.

He will most likely edge towards 30 wins by the time he’s done playing, and maybe even surpass that landmark.

McIlroy clearly prefers playing on tough golf courses and with the DP World Tour clearly heading towards having more difficult venues on the schedule, perhaps he will return to Europe and the rest of the world to play more regularly moving forward.