6x Major Champion Rory McIlroy Defends His Lighter Schedule Amid Criticism Over Limited Starts

The Genesis Scottish Open is Rory McIlroy's 10th start on the PGA Tour this year with his previous 9 coming at signature or major events.

6x Major Champion Rory McIlroy Defends His Lighter Schedule Amid Criticism Over Limited Starts

Rory McIlroy (Image via Imago)

Rory McIlroy has faced huge criticism in recent weeks regarding his lighter schedule this season. At The Genesis Scottish Open this week, the 6-time major champion is making just his 10th start of the year. Amid scrutiny, the Northern Irishman defended his actions after the first round.

His first appearance on the PGA Tour this year was at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He was the defending champion, having won the 2025 event. After a T14 finish here, he played The Genesis Invitational a week later, where he finished T2.

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, he suffered an injury. After making the cut, he decided to withdraw from the event. He did play in The Players Championship the following week.

Then came his title defense at the Masters Tournament. The World No.2 scripted history and became a rare repeat winner at Augusta National as he finished 1-shot ahead of Scottie Scheffler.

His next three starts were at the Truist Championship, the PGA Championship and the Memorial Tournament. After a T12 finish at Jack Nicklaus‘ place, he finished T32 at the U.S. Open in June.

The Genesis Scottish Open is his 1st non-signature/major start. The golfer has given preference to the big events and even skipped some of the signature events like the Cadillac Championship and the Travelers Championship.

This led to many criticizing him. At The Renaissance Club in Scotland, he shot an opening round score of 65 and was tied for the lead with Tom Kim, Bernd Wiesberger, Patrick Cantlay, and Rasmus Hojgaard.

In the press conference after the first round, he defended his lighter schedule and expressed the benefits of it.

The benefits are seeing my family more. Feeling like I have a bit more balance in my life. … I think one of the other benefits for me, like I’m nearly 20 years into this, and I need to do everything I can to keep my enthusiasm as high as possible, and playing a lighter schedule definitely does that.

Rory McIlroy told the reporters in Scotland

Some have also questioned his work ethic. In the pre-tournament press conference, the golfer seemed unimpressed about being asked about playing in fewer events.

As per the rules, a member needs to play a minimum of 15 events in a year to maintain their PGA Tour card. McIlroy is not only a lifetime member of the PGA Tour due to his 20-plus wins, but he is also a foreign member.

According to the PGA Tour, a foreign member can apply for medical reasons that would see the required number come down from 15 to 12 events. As of now, McIlroy is expected to play in 12-13 events this year. So he will not be penalized for not reaching the 15-events played mark.

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Rory McIlroy claims there will be goals for him in the future

For more than a decade, Rory McIlroy chased the dream of completing the career grand slam. He finally achieved this last April when he won the Masters Tournament. Since then, he has been freewheeling, leading to some worrying that he might have become complacent. The golfer, however, claimed that there are goals for him in the future.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Image via X/@TheMasters)

Last year, the former World No.1 claimed that he had three goals in his mind: completing the career grand slam, winning an away Ryder Cup and winning an Olympic medal. He completed the first two with victories at Augusta National in April and at Bethpage Black Course in October.

While there is still time for the next Olympic Games, the Holywood-born star expressed that there are still things for him to achieve in his career.

I felt like the Grand Slam last year was the destination, and I realised it wasn’t. It a continuous journey. It’s a journey until you decide one day that you want to step off and do something else, but as long as I’m on this journey, there will always be goals to achieve.

Rory McIlroy told the reporters at Genesis Scottish Open

McIlroy currently ranks 16th in the PGA Tour’s All-Time Wins list with 30 victories. A win this weekend for the 2023 Scottish Open winner would see him break the tie with Harry Cooper and Harton Smith and move him up to 15th.

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