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Looking ahead: Rory McIlroy has suggested that his long-term future may lie stateside on the PGA Tour

Rory suggests he may play on US circuit ‘full-time’ next year

The player at the vanguard of European golf’s resurgence, Rory McIlroy, has intimated that he is “leaning towards” a switch to the PGA Tour. 

In a remarkable turnaround, the 22-year-old US Open champion who last year gave up his PGA Tour card, revealed that he is seriously considering a return to the US as he feels the courses on the stateside circuit may be more agreeable to his style of play.

“I spoke to a couple of the guys from the PGA TOUR today about it, and I’m leaning towards taking my card up again definitely,” said McIlroy on the eve of the WGC Bridgestone in Akron, Ohio. “I feel as if I play my best golf over here. I’m very comfortable in this country.

Two of McIlroy’s three professional victories have come on US soil – at Quail Hollow and the US Open at Congressional. McIlroy previously held a PGA Tour card for the 2010 season, though this year he opted out of renewing his membership, citing the rigours of the FedEx Cup series and a desire to be closer to his family and friends in Northern Ireland as the deciding factors.

However, since then, the finest moment of McIlroy’s career so far has come stateside in the US Open, he has split from his long-term girlfriend and had a disappointing Open Championship.

“You know, I’m going to look at a few houses down in Florida after the PGA. Yeah, I’m definitely looking towards coming back and playing a full schedule over here.

“I might go and stay with G-Mac for a night at Lake Nona and see what that’s like and then down in West Palm Beach and Jupiter, around there.

“I love Quail Hollow, Memorial, Akron. You play Match Play, Honda, Doral, Masters. You have your favourite events, and most of my favourite events seem to be on this side of the pond. And my game suits it over here. I’m very comfortable over here. I’d like to give it a go again and obviously last more than one year and really see how it goes.

McIlroy has been praised for his forthright manner in the press room, with his candid honesty in stark contrast to the generally insipid comments of many high-profile pros.

However, McIlroy’s frank exchange with commentator Jay Townsend last week via social media sparked furore amongst golf’s ‘Twitterati’. Typically unbowed, McIlroy admitted the encounter had been unfortunate, but that it would not stop him from speaking his mind in the future.

“What happened last week in Ireland with the whole Twitter thing was unfortunate. Again, just off the golf course after making a double bogey, going through, having lunch, going through Twitter, seeing a couple of comments, and I just responded to them.

“That’s the world that we live in these days; everything is instant and everything is in the public domain. Yeah, I’ll maybe think about things a little more carefully next time I do something like that.
“It won’t stop me from Tweeting or speaking my mind.”

Let’s hope McIlroy’s decision to relocate the US isn’t just as reactionary.

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Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered

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