Rory McIlroy names two more European events he’d ‘love to play’

Rory McIlroy has offered more clues about how his reduced schedule is shaping up in 2025.

McIlroy has indicated he wants to make a significant cutback to his schedule next season – and reiterated his plans ahead of this week’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

“I’m knocking on it a little bit – I’ve got the grey hairs to prove it,” he joked as he closes in on a sixth Order of Merit title this week at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

“At 35, and I’ve been on tour for 17 or 18 years, look, I’m not slowing down at all, but I just have to take care of myself and take care of my body a little bit more, and 27 events this year is maybe a touch too many. If I can trim it back down to 22 or 23, I think that would be good for me in the long run.”

That does not mean, however, that McIlroy will curtail his unwavering support of the DP World Tour.

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“I think it will look very similar going forward,” he said. “Start in the Middle East in Dubai, and then I don’t really play over here again until The Scottish Open. So you know, play that. That’s a tournament that I’ve enjoyed playing the last few years, especially leading up to The Open Championship.

“And then once the season in America is done, then yeah, come back over. The way the schedule is, Irish Open, Wentworth, Dunhill, these two events. Yeah, it’s going to look very similar.

“If anything, the schedule will be reduced over in the States in terms of some of the tournaments I played this year that I typically don’t play. But those are the ones that I would shave off.”

McIlroy has also been consistent on his love of national Opens and why they must be an integral part of a new global calendar if and when golf’s powerbrokers find a solution to the current strife.

The Northern Irishman was reminded by a reporter in Wednesday’s press conference that he has not played on Spanish soil since the Volvo Match Play in 2011, but suggested he’d like to carve out a place in his schedule for its biggest tournament.

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“But I would love to go back and play The Spanish Open and The French Open. I’ve talked about this for a while about the importance of some of these national Opens, and they are some of the most historic tournaments that we have in the game. So yeah, I would certainly like to go back and play in front of the Spanish fans eventually. It’s just a matter of trying to make it all work.

McIlroy also pointed out that he won’t be able to compete at Spain’s most iconic course, which is currently home to LIV Golf events.

He added: “And there’s an event at Valderrama every year but I can’t play in that one, unfortunately.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.