McIlroy flexes his muscle
Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during the second round of the 100th PGA Championship held at Bellerive Golf Club on August 10, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. Photo by Montana Pritchard/PGA of America
Rory McIlroy will put on a power show in the $6.5 million Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii tonight - in more ways that one.
The Holywood star will be relishing the prospect of showing off his driving prowess on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, where the bombers produced seven of last season’s top-10 longest drives.
But in making his 2019 debut there rather than heading to Abu Dhabi in a fortnight to compete on the European Tour — a circuit he describes as "a stepping stone" — he's proving that in the modern game, the top players call all the shots.
Just ask European Tour CEO Keith Pelley, who has problems getting large numbers of Europe's stars to play in the lucrative, eight-event Rolex Series.
McIlroy has turned down the chance to play the winners-only event in Hawaii six times because he traditionally starts his season with well-renumerated appearances in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
But with the Major season now compressed between April and July as the US PGA moves into May, he believes playing almost exclusively in the US this year can only help him improve his world ranking and his major tally.
"I want to play against the best players in the world," Florida-based McIlroy told reporters, including the Associated Press, this week. "I get a buzz from that. I’d much rather go down the stretch against Justin Thomas or Dustin Johnson.
"I’m not putting anyone down in Europe, but the depths of the field and everything is just that bit better over here.
"It’s what everyone is striving for. It’s why Francesco Molinari is here this week. It’s where it’s heading."
He added: "It’s not as though I’m just starting out and jumping ship. I’ve done my time. I’ve done everything I feel like I need to do to say, ‘OK, I’m going to make my own decisions and do what I want.’”
While skipping the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch could prove to be a costly own-goal in the PR stakes, should that eventually come to pass, such considerations are secondary.
Even if he appears willing to appease Pelley by playing the required four-events outside the majors and World Golf Championships to keep his European Tour card, his heart now lies in America.
"The ultimate goal is here," McIlroy said of the US circuit. "The European Tour is a stepping stone. That’s the truth."
The European Tour's Rolex Series might comprise seven events worth $7 million as well as the $8m DP World Tour Championship.
But there are 21 "pure" PGA Tour events worth over $7m this season, many of them rich in world ranking points.
Last year, 19 US events outside the majors and WGC's offered the winner at least 50 world ranking points.
In Europe, there were just three — the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship, the BMW PGA at Wentworth and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
"It’s so one-sided," McIlroy said. "That’s the thing. Look, you can talk all you want about these bigger events in Europe, but you can go to America and play for more money and more ranking points."
Until someone comes up with a viable pathway to creating a World Tour, the exodus of top Europeans to the US will continue with few willing to go the other way.
It appears that the only thing that will take the elite out of its comfort zone is the application of the new Rules of Golf, which come into effect this week.
