Rory McIlroy was the absolute fan favorite at Royal Portrush during this year’s Open Championship. With the exception of Scottie Scheffler, who went on to win the event, no player received as much ovation as the Northern Irishman.
Riding on the back of this massive support from his compatriots, McIlroy charged hard through the final two rounds to contend for the title, but eventually finished tied for seventh at 10-under.
Although the season isn’t over, it’s been an emotionally charged journey for the Northern Irishman thus far, so much so that he revealed himself needing a break. With a fresh start to the Ryder Cup in his sights, McIlroy already has a vacation planned, starting immediately.
“I don’t want to play too much leading up to that [the Ryder Cup] because I want to be fresh,” said McIlroy, according to the transcripts of his post-round press conference. “So I’m looking forward to a few weeks off here (in Europe). I’ll reflect on what’s been already a good year and start to get myself ready for that run up to the Ryder Cup.
“I feel like being back in Europe for a bit was a nice reset. Yeah, I feel like I’m getting back to where I want to be, and we’ve still got a lot of golf left this year with, obviously Ryder Cup being the big one in there in September.”
This was Rory McIlroy’s 33rd top-10 finish in 67 career major championships, and his eighth in 16 Open Championship starts.
How do the next two months look on Rory McIlroy’s schedule?
Although McIlroy’s schedule is not public knowledge, we can estimate his upcoming starts based on what he has said, as quoted above. As he predicted, there shouldn’t be many.
The PGA Tour will conclude the month of July with two tournaments the five-time major champion is certain to miss: the 3M Open and the Wyndham Championship.
The three FedEx Cup playoff tournaments (the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the BMW Championship, and the Tour Championship will follow, and McIlroy will definitely participate in all of them. This will mark the end of the PGA Tour season.
The Northern Irishman will have little time to rest, as just two weeks after the Tour Championship, the DP World Tour Irish Open will be played, an event in which McIlroy is a regular participant.
The 36-year-old has one more tournament to play before the Ryder Cup. As he has done almost every year, he will likely play in the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship event, which takes place two weeks before the biannual event.
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