Rory McIlroy has admitted he is considering significant changes to his schedule in 2025 after hitting “a wall” during a packed finish to the PGA Tour season.
McIlroy won twice on the PGA Tour this season, following victory alongside Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by also claiming the Wells Fargo Championship, although saw his wait for an elusive fifth major head into a fifth season.
The 35-year-old squandered a two-shot lead over the closing holes to finish runner-up at the US Open in June, with McIlroy taking a three-week break – his longest of the year – before following an encouraging performance at the Genesis Scottish Open by missing the cut at The Open.
McIlroy also threatened an Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics ahead of featuring in all three FedExCup Playoffs, with a tied-ninth finish at the season-ending Tour Championship his sixth start in an eight-week stretch.
“I feel like the tournaments came thick and fast and, obviously with the Olympics thrown in there as well this year, it sort of condensed everything a bit,” McIlroy told reporters after a final-round 66 at East Lake.
“It’s been a long season and I’m going to just have to think about trying to build in a few extra breaks here and there next year and going forward, because I felt like I hit a bit of a wall sort of post-U.S. Open and still feel a little bit of that hangover.”
McIlroy is still set to make five more starts on the DP World Tour this year, which would take his tally to 27 events and his highest since 2010, with the Northern Irishman keen to make alterations to his schedule in 2025.
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Rory McIlroy missed the cut at The Open after he struggled with windy conditions at Royal Troon
“I’m usually sort of like a 22 (events a year) sort of person,” McIlroy explained. “But again, that was when I was sort of in my 20s and didn’t have the responsibilities that I do now. I’m going to try to cut it back to like 18 or 20 a year going forward, I think.”
McIlroy went into the season-ending Tour Championship six strokes behind Scottie Scheffler, the same margin he overturned on his way to a third FedExCup victory in 2022, although failed to contend as he ended 14 shots adrift of the world No 1.
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“He makes more birdies than I do and he makes less bogeys,” McIlroy said about how his game compared to Scheffler’s this season. “That sort of adds up to him being a little bit better right now.
“I think the one thing I’ve always admired about Scottie is the amount of bogey-free rounds he shoots. Just go back over the last two, three years and you look at how many rounds he shoots that he’ll shoot like four under par, no bogeys.
“It doesn’t look spectacular at all, but it’s just so solid – he doesn’t really put himself out of position. When you don’t make a ton of bogeys, the field has got to do something really special to keep up.”
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Where else will McIlroy play this year?
McIlroy takes a week off after the end of the FedExCup season, then switches his focus back to Europe for successive events on the DP World Tour.
He has committed to teeing it up on home soil in the Amgen Irish Open from September 12-15, held at Royal County Down Golf Club, with McIlroy then headlining the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth a week later.
McIlroy is returning to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland from October 3-6, where he will partner father Gerry in the team competition, before heading to the Middle East in November for the final two events of the DP World Tour season.
The new DP World Tour Play-Offs will see McIlroy feature at the Abu Dhabi Championship from November 7-10 and the DP World Tour Championship a week later, both Rolex Series events, where he will be in contention to win the Race to Dubai for a sixth time.
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Ryder Cup on the mind for McIlroy?
The race to qualify for Europe next Ryder Cup team began at the Betfred British Masters last week, with Luke Donald looking to retain the trophy next September with a historic victory on American soil.
Significant changes have been made to the qualification criteria ahead of the 2025 contest in New York, live on Sky Sports, with McIlroy determined to secure an eighth consecutive Ryder Cup appearance as quickly as possible.
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“I think once Rickie [Fowler] gave Tommy [Fleetwood] that putt on the 16th green, I started thinking about Bethpage,” McIlroy said, referencing the point that secured Europe’s victory in Rome last autumn.
“Qualifying started in Europe and we’re all trying to get points on the board early to make sure that we don’t have to rely on a pick – that’s obviously a big thing.
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“I think one of the great things that we did leading up to Rome is we pretty much had the team set a few months in advance, so hopefully we can do the same thing again and know the 12 that we’re bringing to New York pretty early.
“We can think about pairings, think about all of those things that you need to so that once we get there a few weeks out, we’re prepared and everyone knows what they’re doing.”
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