Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Rory’s story doesn’t add up & our tour will suffer
I’M still struggling to process the fact Rory Mcilroy may rescind his European Tour membership next year and not tee it up at the 2019 Irish Open.
It’s extraordinary to think our highest ranked – and highest profile – player won’t be on home soil when the tournament rolls into Lahinch in July.
Rory has been an ever present for the past decade and I know it meant a lot to him when he triumphed at the K Club in 2016.
Majors aside, it was always a dream of his to win the Irish Open when he was a young boy growing up in County Down.
Suggestions Mcilroy is destined to play just two events on the European Tour next year – and sit out his home championship – are a blow for the sport here.
There’s no sugar coating it and I’m struggling to get my head around the rationale behind it.
Rory, who has so far only committed to play the European Masters in Switzerland and the Scottish Open, will point to his recent majors record.
He won the last of his four majors four years ago and the argument is a revamped schedule will help him add to that tally and win other marquee events in the States. But if it was that simple, everyone would be clearing their diary.
An unrepentant Mcilroy has claimed “everyone looks out for themselves”, but I’m on the same page as Paul Mcginley, who branded the move “extraordinary”.
Mcginley, next year’s Irish Open host, went on to say he had been racking his brains “wondering how that can be”.
And again, I agree. I just don’t get it.
The European Tour recently reduced to four the number of events (outside of majors and World Golf Championships) that players have to play here to retain their membership.
It is so much easier for star names to fulfil their commitments these days, so the fact Rory doesn’t feel inclined to make the effort is depressing.
He did save the Irish Open and is to be thanked for hosting the tournament the past four years, but I sense a shift in attitude from the former World No1.
We witnessed a similar, singular dynamic from Tiger Woods in his prime – but that’s only fine if you’re winning tournaments and bringing it every time you play.
On the course, Mcilroy’s season has ended in a damp squib. He finished off the pace in his final three starts on the Race to Dubai and ended the European Tour campaign without a win.
Worryingly, he wasn’t our go-to guy at the Ryder Cup and now he appears to be out of sync with the demands and expectations of the European Tour.
That the Irish Open is set to be a casualty in all of this is hugely frustrating.