Rory McIlroy prefers Irish Open over AT&T National – Golf News
Northern Ireland’s golfing sensation and the world number one, Rory McIlroy, has announced not to play the PGA Tour’s AT&T National scheduled from June 28 to July 1, 2012.
This is because of its coincidence with the Irish Open, where his participation was already confirmed earlier by him.
He was talking to the media on Tuesday at the Doral Golf Resort where he is scheduled to play the World Golf Championships – Cadillac Championship.
He said that he did join the PGA Tour and planned to play as much events as he can.
According to McIlroy, his preference of playing the Irish Open is because of the patriotism he has for the local events.
He believes that he can play a key role in promoting the tournament, which has the same dates as one of the big events played on the PGA Tour.
Many golf experts believe that McIlroy has reached a stage where his participation in any event determines the field as strong or weak.
Therefore, the AT&T National, that was already struggling to draw some big European names, will be conducted without the best golf player’s participation.
“Of course it was difficult,” McIlroy said of his decision. “You always want to go back to places where you’ve had success before. Obviously, I have great memories from Congressional last year”.
As the Irish Open has recently moved to Royal Portrush, around 60 miles away from McIlroy’s home, he wants to play and provide an opportunity to his home-town fans to come and watch him play on the course.
“Having the Irish Open being played in Portrush, in my home country — to be honest, it was a tough decision to make,” McIlroy said.
He added, “But I’ll have plenty of chances to play Congressional again, and play the AT&T. The Irish Open may only be in Portrush for a couple of years”.
He also told that he will take three weeks off prior to the start of the Masters Tournament in April, as he wants to register his second major of the career.
According to the golf experts, he is currently the hot favourite for the Masters, which will give him a boost for the remaining tournaments he is scheduled to play.
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