Rory McIlroy ditches PGA Tour to concentrate on Europe
It might be the land of milk and honey as far as prize money is concerned, but the charms of the PGA Tour have failed to seduce Rory McIlroy.
After a year in which the Ulsterman has attempted to straddle both of the world's most significant tours, sometimes with limited success, the 21-year-old has decided that in 2011 he will focus his energies on the European Tour.
The Northern Irishman explained his decision by admitting that he no longer wanted to commit so much time to US soil simply in order to be eligible for the Tour.
"Sometimes you feel as though you have to be in America just to play the mandatory 15 and, at the start of this year, that was something I really wanted to do," he told reporters.
"I did that, but I also realised it wasn't for me but then it doesn't mean to say that I don't want to play full time in the States again."
"With the Majors and the WGCs, plus a few other events such as my defence of the Wells Fargo Championship [formerly the Quail Hollow Championship] I will still play 11 or 12 [events] there next year, and I will be happy with that."
The gifted but mercurial McIlroy also explained that with no base in the US, and his girlfriend Holly living in Northern Ireland, spending extended time in America meant the player was missing his home comforts. "The thing is that if you are playing well in the States it's a great place to be but if you're not it can be a lonely place,” he said.
"Whereas if you are not playing well on the European Tour you still have plenty of mates to hang out with."
Ranked No. 9 in the world, McIlroy won for the first time this year in the US at Quail Hollow in May with an impressive final round of 62, but has also disappointed at times in the last 12 months. With no wins on the European Tour, partly because of a reduced schedule he is only 13th in the Race to Dubai in 2010, an honour he came close to securing last year.
McIlroy follows the example of new No. 1 Lee Westwood, who recently announced that he would be playing exclusively on the European Tour next year. The Englishman clearly believes he can maintain his status as the world's greatest golfer staying in Europe.
McIlroy, who shares Westwood's management team, may have come to the conclusion that neither his results nor his world ranking will suffer - and may improve - should he follow a similar plan.
But if one of golf's most exciting young prospects has decided there's more to life than lucre, the news will come as a bitter blow to the PGA Tour. McIlroy was particularly dismissive of the Tour's often-criticised FedEx Cup, saying the contest was "only about money."
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