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Rory McIlroy still has a ways to go to close out his 2024 campaign, but it appears he’s more than ready to do so.
McIlroy, speaking after his top-10 finish at the Tour Championship on Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, believes he needs to cut back on his schedule going forward.
“It’s been a long season, and I’m just going to have to think about trying to get a few more breaks here and there next year and moving forward because I feel like I’ve hit the wall a little bit. post-US Open, and I still feel a little bit of that hangover,” McIlroy said.
The Tour Championship was his 22nd tournament of the year. Although this marks the end of the PGA Tour season, McIlroy still has five events on his list, including next week’s Irish Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October. McIlroy is also more than 1,000 points ahead in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai standings. This season concludes with two playoff events in Dubai in November.
Playing 27 tournaments in one year, McIIroy said firmly, is too much for him. At this stage of his career, he now wishes to take a step back.
“I’m usually kind of like a 22-year-old,” McIlroy said. “But again, that was when I was in my 20s and I didn’t have the responsibilities that I have today. I’ll reduce it to 18 or 20 per year in the future, I think.
The Tour Championship was McIlroy’s sixth event in the past eight weeks, which included his T5 placing at the Paris Olympics and his missed cut at the British Open. He also competed in all three FedEx Cup Playoff events before finishing T9 on Sunday in Atlanta. Scottie Scheffler scored a dominant victory at the Tour Championship, which marked his seventh victory of the season.
“I feel like the tournaments have been happening big and fast, and obviously with the Olympics as well, this year, it’s kind of condensed everything a little bit,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy has won twice on the PGA Tour this season, first at the Zurich Classic in April and then again in his next start at the Wells Fargo Championship. He finished second at the US Open after stumbling in the final holes, extending his major championship drought that has now lasted a decade. He missed just one cut in 19 starts and had top-10 finishes seven times.
Although the PGA Tour has eight fall tournaments on its schedule, the 2025 season will begin Jan. 2 with The Sentry in Hawaii. This tournament is a signature event, although McIlroy skipped it this year and instead made his season debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which is the second signature event on the 2025 calendar.