Tour cites a discretionary out for McIlroy
'Extenuating circumstances' clause in bylaws will keep Rory in good standing for 2027
Rory McIlroy got some practice in at Royal Birkdalethis week instead of playing Travelers (Jeff Haynes/USGA)
Rory McIlroy got a first look on Thursday at Royal Birkdale, the site of next month’s Open Championship where he tied for fourth in 2017, the last time the tournament was played at the English venue.
That means, of course, that McIlroy was not competing during the first round of the Travelers Championship, a signature event on the PGA Tour. McIlroy elected to skip it — the third time he’s missed a signature event this year, as is his right.
As Daily Drive reported Thursday, that would seem to puts his PGA Tour membership for 2027 in peril. At least in theory.
McIlroy is going to fall short of the PGA Tour minimum of 15 events that he is required to play via the “home tour” rule which allows him to get unlimited releases in Europe and the Middle East in exchange for having to meet the minimum on tour.
But there apparently is an out. The PGA Tour provided this wording from the player handbook that DD did not cite in the original report.
“Notwithstanding the above, the Commissioner, upon application by a foreign member and for medical reasons or other extraordinary circumstances that the Commissioner, at his discretion, determines to be a valid reason for not playing in at least 15 PGA Tour cosponsored or approved tournaments, may reduce the 15-minimum (or 12-minimum as the case may be) tournament requirement.”
Isn’t that convenient. There was little doubt McIlroy would remain a member for next year, but the tour took issue with the phrasing that it would be “bending the rules” to make McIlroy fully eligible if he didn’t meet the minimum.
There may very well be extenuating circumstances we are unaware of at this point. McIlroy did have an injury that caused him to withdraw before the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and show up late the next week to the Players Championship. He didn’t play again until the Masters, which won he for a second straight year.
He then skipped two more signature events — the RBC Heritage and the Cadillac Championship at Doral — during a jam-packed part of the schedule prior to the PGA Championship. But it appears McIlroy is healthy enough and could have played this week to meet the requirement.
Ten years ago, the PGA Tour did not give Martin Kaymer a break when he failed to meet the minimum, meaning he had to forego membership in 2016. But in 2019, when he came up short having missed out on a chance to get into the Open Championship as an alternate, the tour viewed that as an extenuating circumstance (he could have played the opposite event that week) and allowed the two-time major champion from Germany to keep his membership.
McIlroy, 37, has made clear his desire to play less while not saying he wants to give up his PGA Tour membership. He’s exempt for all of the majors and plays a worldwide schedule, which after the Tour Championship this year will take him to Ireland, Scotland, England, India, Dubai and Australia.
At the Tour Championship last August, McIlroy addressed his schedule as he has in many different settings.
“I’ll always look at the schedule at the start of the year and see what best fits me and my life and everything else that I sort of do, whether it’s with family or other opportunities that I’m pursuing outside of golf. I’ll always look at that,” he said.
“I’ll always choose the schedule that best fits me, and this year (2025) that meant skipping a few signature events. I might skip less (in 2026). I might skip the same amount, I don’t know. It’s all just — the luxury of being a PGA Tour player is we are free to pick and choose our schedule for the most part, and I took advantage of that this year and I’ll continue to take advantage of that for as long as I can.”
McIlroy also appears to be taking advantage of a loophole that will allow him to be a member without playing the minimum. There appeared to be no angst over this when McIlroy’s agent, Sean O’Flaherty, discussed it at the U.S. Open.
And given what he means to the PGA Tour, his status as the No. 2 player in the world rankings and a six-time major winner, it makes sense for CEO Brian Rolapp and commissioner Jay Monahan to give him a pass. It might not go over well with others, but they can certainly make the argument on his behalf.
When the time comes, it is best they present it in that manner. Be transparent. There will be folks who get upset either way, so it is better to simply lay out the facts: McIlroy wanted to play one less event, and the tour is abiding his wish, for which fans will be rewarded rather than punished.
Meanwhile, he went home to England and got in some practice at the year’s Open venue. His next event is the Genesis Scottish Open followed by the Open Championship.
“I’ll be playing some links golf this week probably coming up, but yeah, it’s my favorite time of the year to go back home and play, play the Open, and I get to spend a bit of time back there,” McIlroy said following his final round at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
“This was not too dissimilar to an Open Championship in terms of how the golf course started to play over the weekend, but a bit of links golf over the next couple weeks will be nice.”