PGA Tour hits McIlroy with $3 million fine for missing designated event

The PGA Tour (PGAT) has confirmed that world number three Rory McIlroy will lose $3 million for missing out on two ‘designated’ events on the tour’s 2023 schedule, first in Hawaii and more recently at the RBC Heritage.

As part of a package designed to retain its top golfers, the PGAT in conjunction with some top players including McIlroy and Tiger Woods came up with the ‘designated events’ platform that would see limited fields competing for substantially inflated purses.

The downside was that those eligible to play those events would mandatorily need to turn out for them, with one drop allowed. McIlroy has now missed two and will have a $3 million chunk of his 2022 earnings from a year-end fund called the Player Impact Programme deducted, according to PGAT commissioner Jay Monahan.

From 2024 however, the requirement for compulsorily attending the designated events has been done away with. Till then, as per PGAT regulations, players with more than one pre-informed absence will lose 25 per cent of their overall PIP earnings, or $3 million in the case of the Northern Ireland star.

The PIP is a social media-driven tool that rewards those bringing in the most fan interest across social media platforms thus keeping the tour in the public eye and there was plenty of speculation that given McIlroy’s stellar role in talking down LIV Golf, there would be an exception made in his case.

However, ahead of the ongoing $20 million Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina, Monahan – as the final arbiter on the matter – confirmed that McIlroy would indeed have to pay for dropping out of the RBC Heritage event at Hilton Head.

“He (McIlroy) knew, as he said, the consequences of (nor playing a a second designated event). So, first of all, players should be able to make a decision not to play. I think that’s the beauty of our model. But he knows the consequences of that based on that criteria, and that’s our position,” Monahan told reporters at Quail Hollow.

“The rule for tournament participation … when we made the commitment to this schedule for the Player Impact Programme, we adjusted for one opt-out. And then for any second opt-out, you forfeit the 25 percent unless there was a medical issue. So based on that criteria it’s actually fairly cut and dry.”

Meanwhile, McIlroy was at some pains to explain why he had dropped out of the $20 million RBC Heritage event in South Carolina and why he still hoping a final decision on his absence had not been made.

“I had my reasons not to play Hilton Head,” McIlroy was quoted as saying. “I expressed those to Jay (Monahan), and whether he thinks that is enough to warrant … again, I

understood the consequences of that decision before I made it. So whatever happens, happens.”

Meanwhile, at the ongoing Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, McIlroy’s first appearance since the Masters in early April, the world number three made the cut on the line on 1-under par alongside rising Indian-American stars Sahith Theegala Reddy and Akshay Bhatia.

And speaking of his absence from Hilton Head, McIlroy said, “I think just after the disappointment of Augusta, it was just like, look, I need to reassess where I am in my life and what’s important and what I really need to focus my energy on. It was just incredibly disappointing. I needed some time to regroup.

“It’s been a big 12 months and I don’t know if I fully reflected on stuff. I never really got a chance to really think about the Open and St Andrews and everything that went on there. … It was nice to have three weeks to just put all that stuff in the rearview mirror and just try to focus on what’s ahead.”

“My mind wouldn’t have been there.”