Rory McIlroy to Tailor 2026 Schedule, Balancing Signature Events

Rory McIlroy says he will continue to pick tournaments that best suit his life and career, even if it means skipping high-profile events.

The world number two, trailing only Scottie Scheffler in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the PGA Tour finale at East Lake Golf Club, has faced criticism for missing this season’s Memorial Tournament, The Sentry, RBC Heritage and the FedEx St Jude Championship.

McIlroy still plans to honour DP World Tour dates, heading to India, Australia and the Irish Open before year’s end. 'I’ll always look at the schedule at the start of the year and see what best fits me and my life and everything else I do with family or other opportunities outside golf,' he explained.

'This year that meant skipping a few signature events. Next year I might skip fewer or the same amount. The luxury of being a PGA Tour member is that you can largely choose your own schedule, and I’ll keep taking advantage of that for as long as I can,' he added.

The 2026 PGA Tour calendar, unveiled this week, adds a ninth signature event: the Miami Championship at Trump National Doral from 31 April to 3 May. That creates a seven-week stretch in April and May featuring two majors—the Masters and US PGA Championship—and three signature tournaments.

'I think it’s all positive,' McIlroy said of the changes. 'Golf builds through January, February and March, peaks at Augusta and to maintain momentum through the PGA, US Open and other events is good. It’s a heavy workload, but at least we aren’t travelling halfway around the world between them.'

McIlroy plans to leverage the flexibility of PGA Tour scheduling to balance family, business and competitive priorities.

This topic was reported by BBC Sport.

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