Rory McIlroy’s absence at Sentry Tournament of Champions casts doubt on elevated events
KAPALUA, HI – Rory McIlroy is starting the year with a bogey.
This is difficult to do when World No. 1 isn’t even playing. How can the leader of the movement for the top golfers on PGA Tour to play each other in a series a higher events, skip the inaugural? McIlroy opted out of this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course and issued no explanation. McIlroy’s manager did not receive an email.
The field still is stout with 17 of the top 20 in the world, but the idea of the best players committing to play more often against each other is very much McIlroy’s baby, and so you’d think the World No. McIlroy would know that participation is mandatory. Every other player eligible for the 39-man field did his part and showed up and will be rewarded handsomely with a chance to claim the $2.7 million winner’s check, nearly double last year’s first prize. Somewhere in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is asking himself, “Is this for real?”
Cameron Smith, the defending champion of the T of C, has left for better pastures with LIV Golf. But McIlroy, who is a member of the PGA Tour’s Policy Board and along with Tiger Woods rallied the top players to commit to playing in 13 elevated events with jacked-up purses, should be in the winner’s event (which now includes some non-winners who finished in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings). Sentry, title sponsor, raised the bar by increasing its deals to 2035 and increasing the purse’s value from $8.2 million up to $15 million. It can’t be happy that it doesn’t have a three-time winner and the reigning FedEx Cup champion in the field.
You should also know that players can choose to skip an elevated event and still receive the full amount of their Player Impact Program Bonus money. In one breath, you could argue that McIlroy’s decision to bypass the TOC proves that the Tour’s elite are still independent contractors unlike LIV players who are contractually bound to play all 14 of its events.
But when you’re the vocal leader who made it his mission to combat Greg Norman and the rise of LIV Golf, you really need to be at the first one to support this new effort. Given McIlroy’s outspoken role, is it too much to expect him to have played in all of the elevated events in 2023? It’s a gut punch to the new tiered system, before it gets off the ground. The optics aren’t good, especially when McIlroy has enjoyed plenty of down time off of late – his last appearance was at the DP World Tour Championship, which ended Nov. 20. Sure, it’s a Ryder Cup year and he’ll have to balance playing a few additional DP World Tour events such as a planned appearance in Dubai at the end of the month, but there’s no good excuse. Will Zalatoris, who was in the room in Delaware and is a member of the Tour’s Player Advisory Council, said only a health-related issue would keep him out of an elevated event.
“Why would I turn down any of the nine events where we’re playing for $20 million against the best players in the world?” he said. “You know, when I’m at home I would be playing golf anyway, so I might as well play it against some of the best players in the world.”
McIlroy’s decision wasn’t totally unexpected. Speaking at the CJ Cup in October, McIlroy was candid that he was on the fence about playing at Kapalua, where he’s played just once in his career, finishing fourth in 2019. Anytime the best players in the world have skipped this no-cut, limited field event – whether Tiger or Phil, who both made a habit of doing so – it diminishes the event in the eyes of the public. These guys are clearly overpaid if they don’t get a minimum $200,000 paycheck and a week of luxurious living in Maui.
McIlroy is the last pro you’d think of to be lacking self-awareness but this time he dropped the ball. It likely won’t make a difference in his Masters prep, but at a time when the Tour is trying to stave off an upstart competitor with deep pockets, you want your de facto leader to be all in and McIlroy’s absence this week calls into question whether the Tour’s elevated events will stand tall or become a recycled and rebranded version of the World Golf Championships.