Golf: Rory McIlroy to skip Players Championship
Northern Ireland sensation Rory McIlroy will not compete in the 2011 Players Championship.
The young Ryder Cup star confirmed the news on Twitter. He said, “For everyone who is interested, the reason I'm not playing TPC this year is because I've never thought the golf course has set up that well for me. Hence, two missed cuts in two years. I have
no sort of vendetta against Tim Finchem or the PGA Tour; I love playing in the US and have always found the people very welcoming.”
He clarified that the reason behind opting out of the event was his commitment with the European Tour. He said, “I’m sure one day I'll join the PGA tour again, but right now I want to put all my efforts into Europe and the race to Dubai. Hope this clears
a few things up!"
Recently, McIlroy had hinted at skipping the event and made the final decision after Lee Westwood also opted out of the tournament owing to his schedule.
Both the players bid temporary goodbye to the Players Championship, which is considered as the fifth major on Professional Golfers Association circuit and is the flagship event on the tour.
Despite that, both the players decided to give more preference to home. The reason behind the decision dates back to December 2010, when PGA and European Tour announced a new criterion for membership.
According to the new criteria, a player has to compete in 11-13 events in a season to retain the membership, which is not possible. Therefore, players like Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and Dustin Johnson decided to give up memberships
at one of the tours to opt for the other.
During this process, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell switched to PGA Tour, whereas McIlroy aka R-Mac joined the European circuit.
With McIlroy and Westwood out of the Players Championship, the massive trophy is ready to fall in hands of an American punter.
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