Rory McIlroy has vowed to play less going forward following a long and hard 2024 PGA Tour schedule that included major heartbreak at the U.S. Open.
McIlroy, a four-time major winner, failed to end his decade-long drought after blowing a five-shot advantage over his nearest rival at Pinehurst Resort earlier this summer. He missed two short putts from his last three holes and Bryson DeChamabeau snatched victory from the jaws of defeat – his career-second US Open.
The season concluded with the FedEx Cup, with McIlroy tying in ninth. The three-time winner has admitted he is going to lighten up his schedule going forward as Scottie Scheffler capped off a stellar 2024, including Masters and Olympic victory, and now a career-first Tour Championship and $25 million cash boost.
“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-US Open, and still feel a little bit of that hangover,” said McIlroy, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
“I’m usually sort of like a 22 sort of person. 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 was full of praise for Scheffler, who took his seventh PGA Tour win of the season at the weekend. “I think his consistency, his attitude,” he said.
“I feel like he just sort of brings the same demeanor to the course every single day, no matter what position on the leaderboard he’s in. He’s just amazing to just watch the way he manages himself around the golf course. We’ll look back on 2024 and it’s obviously one of the best individual years that a player has had for a long time.”
makes less bogeys,” McIlroy added. “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. If you 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, doesn’t look spectacular at all, but it’s just so solid, 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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