ATLANTA — Rory McIlroy may not be involved with any PGA Tour player committees any longer, but he still often speaks his mind on matters like the future of the sport.
When McIlroy sat behind the microphone Tuesday at his pre-tournament press conference at East Lake Golf Club, he was just a few hours behind PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, who’d revealed a reimagined Tour Championship involving two weeks of match play.
McIlroy said he had a strong relationship with Rolapp, who has been on board for just more than one year — and as the tour’s future schedule takes shape, the Northern Irishman nodded at changes he would like to see back home in Europe.
“I think the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee and Brian and everyone involved have really taken on board what the fans have been calling for and have wanted, which is match play,” McIlroy said. “Brian took me through the plan last week for the first time. I didn’t really know anything about it.
“It’s certainly different. Two weeks, two different venues. But it’s cool. I think they’ve taken a big swing, and conceptually, I think I really like it.”
The first week of the new format (coming in 2028) will feature a group stage, dividing 32 golfers into eight groups of four for head-to-head match play. The top two players in each group move on to a new course and will be placed in a four-round match play bracket for Week 2.
McIlroy said he’s communicated with Rolapp “weekly” and indicated he’s informally advising the CEO on matters related to the DP World Tour.
“Really, as much as I haven’t wanted to get involved that much with Tour structure or plans going forward, he’s always wanted to keep me in the loop, which I really appreciated,” McIlroy said. “We’re working together on some stuff with the DP World Tour, which is exciting.
“… I like his style of leadership. I like that he’s sort of no-nonsense. He’s very straight with everyone, with us, with you guys (in the media), and I think that’s obviously what you want in someone leading your organization.”
Asked in a follow-up to expand on his DP World Tour comment, McIlroy explained his position that the Europe-based tour could take advantage of the five months of the year that the PGA Tour isn’t competing.
“I think if the PGA Tour are going to play from February through to August, DP World Tour have five months where, with the help of the PGA Tour and maybe some others, can really shine and really shine a spotlight on international golf and put on some of the biggest sort of international events in golf,” he said.
The six-time major champion went on to say he “would hope” more players took up dual membership on the PGA and DP World tours if they have the ability to play more high-profile European events.
“I think with what the PGA Tour has been through with changing its competitive model and its structure, I think if the DP World Tour could do something similar, where you host all of your best events in that five-month time frame, it would allow guys to take up membership, to then have something to play for at the end of the DP World Tour season, if they choose to do that.”
“Because this Tour is not starting until February it looks like in 2028, that means you could put the final events of the DP World Tour season in January. So people could actually go over, whether it’s to the Middle East or elsewhere, to play those final two events, if that was something that was interesting to them, and then also could be at their first couple of events of the season to make sure they’re ready to go for the Championship Series in 2028.”
McIlroy, of course, stands to benefit from such changes as someone who plays globally as much as he does.
The Tour Championship will be his 14th and final PGA Tour start of this season, and there is a 15-event requirement in order for him to maintain his PGA Tour “home-tour” status, which allows him to compete on the PGA and DP World tours without needing to get releases for conflicting events.
“I think the thing is I play at least 22 times around the world in a calendar year, which is as much, if not more, than some of the other top players in the world,” he said. “It’s just that I limit my schedule in the U.S. because I have a heavy schedule in the fall internationally.
“I would like to keep that number around that same mark, like 20 to 22 events. That seems to be a good number for me. If I’m committed to playing that sort of heavier schedule in the fall to go over to the DP World Tour and support that, then yeah, my schedule on the PGA Tour is going to be quite light compared to some others.”
