Rory McIlroy. David Cannon/Getty Pictures
Heading into 2025, Rory McIlroy is slicing down the variety of competitions on his schedule.
“There’s a number of tournaments that I performed this yr that I don’t often play and that I may not play subsequent yr,” McIlroy, 35, shared in a latest interview with The Telegraph. “Like, I performed the Cognizant [Classic] in Palm Seaside Gardens, [the Texas Open in] San Antonio and the [RBC Heritage in] Hilton Head.”
He added: “I’ll in all probability not play the primary play-off occasion in Memphis. I imply, I completed mainly useless final there this yr [tied for 68 in a 70-man field], and solely moved down one spot within the play-off standings.”
McIlroy mentioned that his age was an element behind scaling again which tournaments he performs in. “Effectively, at this level in my profession … Hey, I’m 35 and have been out right here for 17, 18 years, so I’m simply going to go to the locations that I get pleasure from and the place I play nicely, he defined. “Look I’ve achieved the laborious slog, I’ve achieved that kind of 25 to 30 occasions a yr. And I’m not getting any youthful.”
Rory McIlroy and spouse Erica Stoll sparked a romance after years of friendship. The professional golfer initially met Stoll in 2012 whereas he was nonetheless relationship tennis participant Caroline Wozniacki. (The exes cut up in 2014 after three years and have been briefly engaged.) “The factor I like about it’s that we have been buddies earlier than something […]
McIlroy — who not too long ago competed on the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, his twenty sixth occasion of the yr — introduced he was taking a quick hiatus from the game after shedding to Bryson DeChambeau on the U.S. Open Championship earlier this summer time.
“I’m going to take a number of weeks away from the sport course of all the pieces and construct myself again up for my protection of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon,” he wrote by way of X in June.
He broke his silence on his golf break three months later. “There’s been rather a lot occurring this yr from golf-wise after which, clearly, personal-wise as nicely,” he mentioned throughout a September look on The Late Late Present. “Generally life can get rather a lot and it will probably get an excessive amount of, and I needed to take slightly little bit of a break and get away from the sport greater than anything.”
McIlroy famous that he wanted to take a pause from “the enterprise of golf” to type out his high priorities. “[What’s] truly essential to me is buddies, household [and] having fun with myself,” he added. “Get pleasure from the truth that you have been this little boy in Holywood, and also you’ve grown as much as be no matter it’s that I’m, and I must get pleasure from that point.”
Exterior of his golf profession, McIlroy has made headlines this yr for his up-and-down relationship together with his spouse, Erica Stoll. The athlete filed for divorce from Stoll, 37, after seven years of marriage in Might however dismissed the submitting one month later.
“Over the previous weeks, Erica and I’ve realized that our greatest future was a household collectively,” he shared in a June assertion to The Guardian. “Fortunately, now we have resolved our variations and look ahead to a brand new starting.”
Stoll went on to assist her husband on the Genesis Scottish Open in North Berwick, Scotland, in July. McIlroy, in the meantime, revealed in his September interview on The Late Late Present that the pair’s 4-year-old daughter, Poppy, has taken “slightly little bit of an curiosity” in golf.
“If she did [become a pro golfer], I might be 100% supportive, however on the identical time, I wouldn’t thoughts if she did one thing completely different,” he said.