Rory McIlroy concluded his 2025 DP World Tour season with his 7th Race to Dubai title. He surpassed the legendary Seve Ballesteros and is now second only to Colin Montgomerie. After concluding the season, the Northern Irishman ditched the Hero World Challenge to head to Australia. He triggered the “McIlroy Mania” when he was playing in the Crown Australian Open 2026. He finished T14 with a score of 7 under par 277 at the Australian Open 2026.

Top Stories

Ex-Wife Elin Nordegren’s Reaction to Tiger Woods Dating Vanessa Trump Speaks Volumes

Scottie Scheffler’s Caddie Shares Cryptic Message as He Bids Fans ‘Goodbye’

Huge Fire Destroys Over 125-Year-Old Golf Club Designed by 5x Open Winner in London – Report

Tiger Woods’ Warm Moment With Ex-Wife Elin Nordegren Caught on Camera at Son Charlie’s Junior Event

Brooks Koepka’s LIV Golf Exit Explained as Ex-Pro Reveals Brutal Reality

When will Rory McIlroy begin his 2026 season?

But now that the Opening Swing on the DP World Tour that runs through the end of 2025 comes to an end, Rory McIlroy will soon kick-start his 2026 season. It will be a double-header in Dubai. He begins 2026 with the Dubai Invitational, followed by the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. The former is scheduled from January 15 to January 18, 2025, at the Dubai Creek Resort, while the latter runs from January 22 to January 25, 2025, at the Emirates Golf Club.

He will also most certainly continue playing all four major events. The 5x major winner has not yet confirmed where he will play after the Dubai events on the DP World Tour. But for the PGA Tour, he will likely continue to skip many events.

PGA Tour events McIlroy skipped in 2025

Rory McIlroy had already skipped three signature events in 2025. The 2025 Masters champion missed The Sentry, the RBC Heritage, and the Memorial Tournament. Notably, he was criticized for missing these events.

“I’ll always look at the schedule at the start of the year and see what best fits me and my life, and everything else that I do with family or other opportunities that I’m pursuing outside of golf,” Rory McIlroy told reporters ahead of the 2025 TOUR Championship. “This year, that meant skipping a few signature events. [Next year] I might skip less, I might skip the same amount.”

The career Grand Slam winner said that the PGA Tour offers the flexibility to choose the events he wants to play. He took advantage of it in 2025 and plans to continue taking advantage for as long as possible. His comments indicate that he may continue to skip these events from the PGA Tour, and may even skip more.

He may also skip non-essential tournaments and focus on selected signature events. This includes the Genesis Invitational, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and THE PLAYERS.

However, there’s no confirmation on which PGA Tour events he will play and which ones he will skip.

Rory McIlroy’s strategic schedule reduction

The reduction in Rory McIlroy’s schedule is not unintentional. McIlroy is doing it as a part of his strategy to ensure a long career. McIlroy emphasizes rest to stay injury-free and compete for another decade like Justin Rose. He already cut back from 19 PGA Tour events in 2024 to 16 in 2025, and from 9 DP World Tour events in 2024 to just 5 in 2025. And he hinted that he may play even less in 2026.

“Look, I’m not getting any younger. If I want to play competitively for another ten years like Justin Rose has, for example, I have to remember that I’m not 23 anymore and I can’t play that schedule forever,” Rory McIlroy said ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

While McIlroy plans to reduce the number of events he plays, he also prioritizes playing in different countries. This year, he made his debut playing in India at the DP World India Championship.

Rory McIlroy is most likely to play the DP World Tour events in Dubai in January 2025, the majors, and a select few events on both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. However, the only person who can tell which specific events he will play is Rory McIlroy himself.